Definition
Keeping multiple strategic paths open while committing to none, often praised as strategic flexibility or criticized as inability to make decisions. The business equivalent of dating multiple people because you're 'keeping your options open.'
Example Usage
We're maintaining optionality by building three different products simultaneously with half the resources each needs.
Origin
Financial options theory, adopted into business strategy
Fun Fact
Too much optionality often leads to 'analysis paralysis' where startups spend so much time preserving options they never execute on any path decisively.
Source: Business strategy and decision theory
Related Terms
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