Making Decisions

A long time ago, a very wise man said to me, “Ok Dave, your job is to make decisions…and make 51% of them right.”

When you occupy a leader role, making decisions is the job. But leadership decisions are inherently opaque. Too little information, not enough time, consequences either way.  And making decisions bears risk, business risk for the organization, and career risk for the decision-maker. Fear of being second-guessed influences more decisions than leaders would like to admit.

Yet even a perfect decision poorly communicated can torpedo morale and cause good people to quit. Punchline: It’s not enough to be right.

There are two equally important parts to effective decision-making – the ‘what’ and the ‘why’. The ‘what’ is the inherently opaque, relatively uncertain and risky part. The ‘why’ is the narrative rationale behind the decision that tells everyone what that leader believes. What they stand for. Given the inherent imperfection of all decisions, the reasons behind them are often more important for leaders and leadership than the decisions themselves.

Here’s a technique for making tough business decisions that I've used many thousands of times throughout my career:

Zoom out, and mentally frame the decision in an increasingly virtuous context, without compromising the previous layers of context. As the context of the decision broadens, consensus and even appreciation among people tends to increase. As you move through successive layers of context you’ll find the words that demonstrate your decision is founded on widely held business and human truths that most people agree with.

Here’s an example of that widening context and growing universal agreement. Your list may be a bit different because as I said, the 'why' behind your decisions reflects what you stand for:

1.     How is this decision consistent with company values?

2.     How does it further the company’s mission/purpose?

3.     How does it support competitiveness, thus the moral imperative of the organization to provide reliable income and opportunities for its staff and their families? The greater good rationale.

4.     Is it a long-term investment rather than a short-term fix?  

5.     Does it promote people’s career aspirations, i.e., the reason they work?

6.     Does it demonstrate respect for those who care the most and try the hardest?

7.     Is it aligned with the greater good of the community and society?

8.     Given our brief existence on this little blue planet, is this the right decision?

In general, the more challenging the decision, the deeper you go to formulate your rationale. You don’t need to go all the way to the edge of the galaxy for every decision.

Before rolling it out, test your rationale by mentally running it by a few of the people you respect most in the world. It may be a mentor, a parent, or Abe Lincoln. What feedback would they give? Imagine their response in detail, then finalize the message and commit.

When you present your decision to others, do it in reverse order, starting with the broadest layer you think necessary, and working your way back to the decision. If your list is fundamentally altruistic, it will be apparent that your decision, liked or not, was founded on virtues people understand and agree with, thereby upholding their trust in you as a leader.

Have a terrific weekend,

Dave

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Written by me, not ChatGPT

Cheers!