Good Decisions, Better Outcomes
How we might make decisions today.
How we should make decisions starting today.
How we should make decisions starting today.
1) Loudest voice wins
2) Strongest influencer takes it
3) Most persistent finally overcomes
4) Biggest whiner gets it by default
5) Leave it to chance
And then there is the infamous decision-making process(DMP): “My boss already made the decision for me. I’m just going through the steps to say we had input from the team.” This type of DMP leads to poor outcomes. How often does this infamous DMP occur? It depends on many factors, from the type of company, the size, its' culture, to the amount of time to decide. On top of the infamous decision-making process, there is also the leader’s lack of emotional intelligence (EI). Unless we’re diagnosed as unable to feel, emotions play a role in our DMP. And if the leader does have a strong EI, the leader may then lack the ability to quantify the emotions to help with the DMP. As a result, this inability yields poor outcomes.
How we should make decisions starting today.
How we should make decisions starting today.
How we should make decisions starting today.
1) Ensure to incorporate all stakeholders
2) Consider the company’s ecosystem
3) Validate and verify the requirements
4) Include one’s emotions
5) Quantify and qualify the results
To avoid bad decisions, use a repeatable, reliable, and consistent process. You can use it for all your difficult decisions and get better outcomes. Also, ensure that the process considers the emotions of your team and you. Focus the emotions on the requirements, and not on the individual team members. That is, not how one person may feel about another in the team. Instead, base the emotions on items such as the vendor, salesperson, or user experience (UX). This is because being able to quantify one’s emotions is a way to show empathy. Some may find this feeling hard to convey. But, If you can quantify empathy, the team will feel better. It shows them that their emotions were part of the decision-making process. In the end, you’ll have better outcomes overall.
Why Learn "How to Make Better Decisions"
The Price We Pay
The decisions we make in business can affect the company’s outcome for a long time. If some not-so-good decisions are made, chances are the company will experience higher costs either through paying more for a service, facility, land, acquisition, and such. For instance:
- Roughly $220 billion have been lost by shareholders between the 1990s and 2000s on M&As done in the US that totaled over $3.4 trillion.†
There is also the cost associated with time, where management takes much longer than needed to make a decision, or does not make a decision until far later such that the costs of goods and service have escalated. For example:
- As found in the May 2019 McKinsey Quarterly where a survey of over 1,200 managers across a range of global companies was conducted, they learned that the opportunity costs in terms of time for a typical Fortune 500 company in the decision-making process was equivalent to $250 million in wages per year.‡
Set aside costs for a moment, and consider the company’s trust, reputation, reliability, and service. These accolades are predicated by many things, including making good decisions. If we make poor ones, those tributes could be offset by skepticism, discredit, failures, and turmoil. Instead of being famous, the company becomes infamous.
So, if we don’t understand the decision-making process, and how to make more effective decisions and be efficient at the same time, we can be assured that costs will not be the only thing that negatively affects us.
What Can You Do?
- Understand how to make difficult decisions more efficient and effective by including competing departments and getting their support
- Reduce the likelihood of making ineffective decisions by having a quantitative and qualitative process
- Learn how to steer the company in a web of complex alternatives to converge on a solution based on the overall betterment of the company’s ecosystem
Want to learn more? Reach out to us today for a free consultation.
Good Decisions, Better Outcomes - December's Thought
CONCENTRATE
When might be the best time for you to concentrate? For most it’s just after the start of your day according to researchers. That may be in late morning for some, and others late in the afternoon or evening. There you’ll find your greatest success because of your body’s natural rhythms and lower decision fatigue (you just started your day and you haven’t made many decisions and your mind is still clear).
In the end however, not everyone is the same and you might find that your best time to concentrate is different from the start of your day. For example, you must make many of your decisions at the start of your day causing decision fatigue. Thus, concentrating later works for you.
Learn More
Check out these articles to learn more about concentrating. You'll find what works best for you.