January 2009
Decision Making
"An executive is a person who always decides; sometimes he decides correctly, but he always decides." — John H. Patterson
In this challenging and rapidly changing business environment, organizations depend more than ever on the quality of leadership decisions.
Are you an effective decision maker?
Do you make good decisions that hold up to the test of time? Are you effective in balancing analysis with judgment? Can you handle decision-making without getting sidetracked by emotions or other distractions? Do people seek you out for advice and input?
If so, you have mastered a critical competency of leaders: effective decision-making.
Do you have room for improvement?
On the other hand, if you have room to improve the quality of your decisions, you are like most leaders. Perhaps your decision process is out of balance: relying too much on analysis ("analysis paralysis") or overemphasizing intuition or "gut feeling." Or perhaps you are a leader who likes to get the "big solution" fully developed even though a series of small decisions or incremental changes would be more effective. Maybe you rely too much on yourself when involvement of your team would be better. Or maybe when you do consult your team you are not truly open to input and course corrections.
This article reviews some ways to improve decision quality by strengthening your decision-making process.
Opportunities to improve decision making
If you or any of your leadership team would like to improve your effectiveness in making decisions, the following are suggestions to consider:
- Consider your biases. Be aware of your thinking patterns, mindset, attitudes, beliefs, and typical approaches to decisions. All of us have them; effective decision makers are aware of their biases when making decisions. Before any significant decision, take a step back to ask yourself if any of your biases are affecting your decision. Are you applying a solution that has worked before to a new and possibly different circumstance? Have you avoided any resources, options, or possibilities because you are less comfortable working with them than with other, more familiar means? Are you sure you have been objective in making this decision? The idea is to make sure you are able to address the situation at hand realistically and creatively in order to come up with the best decision possible.
- Look at your track record. Analyze the decisions you have made in the past and determine the effectiveness of those decisions. Categorize the decisions by topic or subject area. Most people make better decisions in some areas than they do in others. See if there are specific areas you need to focus on improving, such as decisions relating to people, career, technology, finances, or politics.
- Engage your team. At times, reaching out to others is a good strategy. There are several ways to engage others in improving decisions. You might delegate the decision to someone else — there are times when someone else is better positioned to decide. For other decisions, you might form a team to consider the issue and make recommendations — give the team everything you know about the issue and then let them work with it. Or reach out to a colleague in another department, division, or even company to see what similar issues he or she has faced and what was decided and what resulted.
"What you always do before you make a decision is consult." — Elizabeth Dole
Better decisions
These are a few ways to get started in strengthening your decision-making. A way to further sharpen your skills is to find decision-making role models and study their approaches. Consider notable decision makers: Read their biographies, identify how they made decisions, and experiment with new approaches based upon their methods. Another prospect is to seek a decision mentor — someone around you who makes good decisions and from whom you may learn: Ask about their process, what has worked and what hasn't, and what lessons they have learned.
Good decisions are based on a mix of data, analysis, experience, intuition, wisdom, and judgment. Making a good decision involves being willing to take the time to collect the available information, being open to input from others, and being able to make the decision coolly and then move forward. No one is right all the time, but the consistency of good decisions over time is a vital metric of good leadership.
In conclusion, decisions are a critical contribution we make as leaders of our organizations. If we are able to make better decisions and help our leadership team members to do the same, our organizations will benefit. In challenging times of tremendous change, the ability to make better decisions becomes even more critical to our success.
— Rick Kiel