Definition
Decisiveness is the capacity to act without hesitation once the moment of opportunity has arrived. In Greene's account of seduction, the long phases of indirection and anticipation only pay off if the seducer can move cleanly when the time comes — hesitation at the decisive instant undoes everything that preceded it.
It is not haste. Decisiveness is the willingness to commit fully to an action that has already been judged correct, rather than letting doubt dilute it.
Why it matters
How it works
Decisiveness works on perception. A clear, committed action communicates conviction, and conviction is contagious — it gives the other person something solid to respond to. A hesitant, half-made gesture forces the other person to manage the actor's uncertainty, which is unappealing and confusing. Greene pairs decisiveness with timing for a reason: the quality only helps when the underlying judgment is correct. Acting decisively on a misread of the situation simply makes the error larger. The skill, then, is twofold — read the moment accurately, and once read, do not flinch.