In prior e-blasts about Decisions, we’ve talked about the importance of understanding our desired outcome, setting up our environments to nudge us toward good decisions, and asking great questions. In Part IV of our series on Decisions, we explore the importance of process in making strong decisions.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on the best decisions we’ve ever made. The ones we’d put in our Decision-Making Hall of Fame. Now, let’s think about the process we used to make them. The way we considered our decisions and drew conclusions about what to do. Regardless of the decisions that we chose as our best, we probably all had some process we used to get there. And if we considered more than one decision, we’d probably find we used similar processes for all of them. We’ll even go one step further and suggest that our processes likely contained similar elements, including:
- Identify the desired outcome
- Gather information
- Explore options
- Evaluate the information and options
- Make a choice from among our options
- Act on the decision
- Evaluate the decision.
So, we’re left with a perplexing question: if our best decisions come out of strong process, and we know it, why do we ever make poor decisions?
While leaders and teams may have unique challenges, we’ve repeatedly seen the decision-making process break down in three critical places.
We don’t clarify and articulate the desired outcome. As leaders, we shouldn’t enter a decision-making process with an unstated goal. Let’s think about the last time we hired someone. What did we really want from that hire? Fit with the culture? Most/best experience in a similar job? Most potential for growth? Did we share that with the other individuals we included in the decision-making process? Whatever the ultimate driver of our decision, it must be shared so others can aim for the same target in their analysis. Otherwise, we’re really making two different decisions in the same process!
We fail to see all options. Many times, our decision-making process is launched by recognition of a desire or a need. It’s human nature to immediately identify a potential solution, and perhaps even more so, to focus only on that solution. Healthy decision-making processes encourage us to explore all our options before choosing one. Frankly, it’s the reason some of our parents wanted us to date multiple people before settling into a long-term relationship. It’s not that they didn’t like our first boyfriend/girlfriend, but they knew that we would grow and change, and that first relationship might not be best for us as we matured. That’s not to say our first solution won’t sometimes be the best solution, but we can feel more confident in it if we identify all the options first and give each a proper evaluation.
We have a flawed evaluation system. Yes, you read that correctly—a process within the process is important too! When we evaluate information and options, we need a system that will help us:
- Identify facts – what we know (e.g., data, facts, figures)
- Express opportunities – what could go right (e.g., positives, optimistic view, hopeful)
- Determine obstacles – what could go wrong (e.g., negatives, cautious view, realistic)
- Share our feelings – what we believe (e.g., gut feelings/thoughts, hunches, reactions)
- Get creative – what we could do (e.g., merge solutions, pursue multiple solutions)
- Establish next steps – what’s next (e.g., gather more info, proceed to decision).
We see many evaluation systems fail because they miss one of those important steps, or they do them out of order. For instance, many great ideas are abandoned before they’ve ever had a chance to thrive because we shout out obstacles as soon as the views are expressed. While many bad ideas have been executed because we look only at the bright side and never consider what could go wrong.
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Final Thought: James Clear wrote, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” You’ve probably heard us say that before, but it bears repeating because the process we use to make decisions will impact the quality of our decisions.
