Kuala Lampur, July 14 -- There is a quiet crisis unfolding in boardrooms and government offices alike. It is not a crisis of resources, talent, or even vision. It is a crisis of nerve. We have cultivated a generation of leaders who mistake hesitation for wisdom, and in doing so, have made regressive decision-making an art form.

Many share such concern. The over-cautious leader is a paradox: desperate to avoid failure, yet guaranteeing mediocrity. These managers-whether in the private sector or, more acutely, in the civil service-suffer from what I call the "tyranny of the unpopular". They scan the horizon not for opportunities, but for critics. Every decision is filtered through a single lens: Will this upset anyone? The result is a slow...