Decision making - As Leaders, our primary responsibility is to make decisions. Not a day passes in Leader’s life without him/her making multiple decisions. Decision making for Leaders is laden with three primary challenges.
1. Do I have the required information to make decision?
2. Is this the right time to make the decision?
3. Can I stay with an open mind until I make the decision?
We always puzzle on the first two challenges while not being cognizant of the third. Of the first two challenges, we always trade off one for the other i.e., either we wait for eternity to get the required information thus missing out on the timeframe to make the decision; or in rush to make the decision, we may not focus on gathering the required level of information.
I’d like to share with you my perspectives on Decision making and 6 key stages that we need to go through to make an effective decision. Following are the key stages:
1. Preliminary stage
2. Strategic Imperative
3. Broadening the view
4. Making the Decision
5. Socializing
6. Communicating
Let us examine each of the stages
Preliminary stage – This is the first step for any Decision making and involves asking two key questions.
First question – Am I the right person to make the decision? This is a critical question that we need to ask ourselves. More often than not, we get this element right when the decision indeed has to be made by a person higher in the command/value chain (our boss, customer etc). However, we do not get this right when the decision indeed could be made by one of our team members. We tend to over exercise our right to make decisions without delegating this key function to our team members and subsequently lament about their inability to make the right decision. If we do not empower them, we cannot build this critical capability in them. Hence, it is a good place to start by asking this question – Am I the right person to make this decision?
Second question – Can I stay with an open mind until I make the decision? One of our biggest fallacies is our inability to stay with the question. We always prefer status-quo (a state that we feel extremely comfortable to operate in but are laden with failure – more in a future blog) and when we get pushed out of that state, we are in an uncomfortable zone and human nature is to bring it back to equilibrium or status-quo. Hence, in decision making process, we either rush to make a decision or can never make a decision. This question reminds us to keep an open mind while we consider all the options. One of my professors said to me “Intelligent mind is one that can hold two equally opposing thoughts at the same time”.
Strategic Imperative – Confirming that we are the right person to make the decision and committing to have an open mind, it is important for us to understand the implications of the decision. This can be achieved by asking three questions.
First question – Do I understand the implications of the decision? While it is natural for us to focus on immediate impact of our decisions, as Leaders who make decisions that need to be sustainable, it is important for us to examine the impact of our decisions across two planes – Scope and Timeframe. Scope refers to extent of team/Organization that the decision impacts and consequences of such an impact on other parts of the value chain – rest of the organization, customers, suppliers, stakeholders etc. While examining the impact, it would be good to evaluate unintended consequences too. Timeframe refers to examining the impact of decision across time periods. Here, I like Suzy Welch’s model of 10-10-10. Assessing the impact of decision in 10 minutes (immediate), 10 months (moderate time period) and 10 years (longer time frame) enables us to judge better both short term and long term implications of our decision. Sometimes, by examining the decision across these time periods, both the scope of the decision and who should make the decision could get revisited. What seemed a trivial decision could sometimes translate to be most critical decision and one that may impact larger organization than earlier scoped.
Second question – Who are the key stakeholders? We need to understand that we are operating in Organization ecosystem and how much ever simple/independent a decision could look like, it is important for us to list stakeholders who could either be impacted by the decision or whose buy-in is required for us to effectively implement the decision. Hence, in this stage, it is important for us to list the key stakeholders for the decision.
Third question – When is the best time to make the decision? Understanding the implications and key stakeholders, it is important to objectively put a timeframe in which the decision has to be made. This will help us to be honest and effective in decision making. History has proven that Leaders fail not because they made the wrong decision but did not make it at the right time. Hence, being objective about when we should make the decision before we start the process will ensure that we do not wait for eternity to get the required information before a decision could be made.
Broaden view – Now that we understand the implications, key stakeholders and timeframe in which the decision has to be made, we should start the decision making process by broadening our view. Broadening our view literally means our willingness to learn. Following two questions will help our learning process.
First question – Have I involved the right people in the decision making process? Most decisions are not effective as we do not involve people who are closer to the issue at hand in the decision making process. By listing people who are closer to the issue at hand and ensuring that all their viewpoints/perspectives are heard will ensure that we make better decisions.
Second question – What information do I require to make the decision? It is important to list critical variables/inputs that are required for us to make the decision and vet this with people who are closer to the ground to ensure that we are not missing out on any key components. While listing these variables, it is important to acknowledge that we may not have all the inputs available for us to make the decision but listing them out will ensure that we are looking at the issue at hand from all possible angles.
Making the Decision – Having done the required pre-work to make the decision, now is the time to actually start the process of decision making. This will require us to talk to key people whom we have listed to involve in decision making process and engage them on the variables listed in the broaden view section. This could be done either through 1-1s or in a group format by adopting brainstorming approach. Once all the alternatives are assessed, as a Leader we have to make the decision.
One key aspect that we need to remember is the difference between inclusivity and consensus. While decision making process should be inclusive (taking in inputs from all key people), it cannot be consensus based approach. Having decided in the preliminary stage that we are the right person to make the decision, it is important for us to make the decision. We cannot delegate the decision to a group. We should hear people views and arguments but the final decision will rest upon us to make. If we shy away from making the decision (sometimes the decisions could be unpopular), we will lose respect as a Leader.
Socializing – Having made the decision, for us to effectively implement it, the decision should be socialized with key stakeholders. This is the buy-in process and varies significantly based on the culture of the Organization. If we fail to adopt this approach, we could have made the most effective decision but it would fail in execution. As we go through this process, we may come across information/perspective that may take us back to any of the earlier stages. But it is important not to miss this step in rush to execute the decision.
Communicating – Once we achieve the buy-in from key stakeholders, we should communicate the decision to the larger teams. We should draw up a communication plan. More often than not, this stage is skipped over or done through an email. Depending upon the implication of the decision that we have identified in strategic imperative stage, our communication plan should be strengthened. Simple formula for effective communication – Communicate… Communicate… Communicate… There is nothing like over communication. More importantly, it is important for the associates to hear directly from the Leader. Hence, if the decision has far reaching impact (score or timeframe), it is important for Leader to directly communicate the decision to the teams.
For some decisions, we simply go through these steps in our head; while for others, we may document each of the stages and lists.
As a Leader, it is important to communicate our decisions but much more important is to acknowledge when our decision is not right. This acknowledgement will strengthen our bond with the teams and will further establish us as a respected Leader in the eyes of the associates.
Now you have to make a critical decision – Should you read my future blogs or not? J
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