There are many reasons we might put off making an important decision. We may want to preserve our public persona as someone who is affable or avoid hurting somebody’s feelings. We may even put off a decision because we’re in search of certainty and hide behind the information-gathering process. Unfortunately, for most decisions we’ll be tasked with making, it’s unlikely that we’ll have the privilege of doing so with all the information, all of the time, and that we can avoid any and all impact on people. We will rarely, if ever, make the perfect decision. But as leaders, we can make the best decision possible when we have the right framework in place to support the process.
During this week’s solo episode of Best Places to Lead, I focused on the scaffolding for putting in place your own decision-making framework. One of the eleven leadership competencies I’ve identified, decision-making is a skill you can hone with the right tools and time. Here are 3 lessons for improving your ability to make sound decisions quickly:
- Develop a rubric to guide your decision-making.
- Get feedback on your decision before executing.
- Make time to reflect after the decision is made.
Lesson #1: Use a rubric!
There’s a reason educators use rubrics, and it’s not because they’re fun to design (although they can be). It’s because rubrics provide clear expectations against which you can measure an outcome’s success. Unlike the rubrics used by many school teachers, your decision-making rubric won’t allow you to strategically gain points towards a perfect score. It will, however, help you make timely decisions that are aligned with the business goals. Additionally, it will force you to slow down and identify other options that you otherwise may have overlooked had you let a sense of urgency override your judgment.
At minimum, your rubric should include a question about alignment with the organization’s mission, vision, and values; one about whether more time will help you make a better decision; and a category each for long- and short-term impact on the business financially, culturally, and infrastructural.
Lesson #2: Test your decision with skeptics you trust!
While the old adage about it being lonely at the top regularly feels true for leaders, you don’t always have to do everything alone. In fact, one of the best things you can do is take the potential decision you want to make to some skeptics you trust and have them try and punch as many holes in it as possible. I recommend picking 2 skeptics on your team, whose single job will be to test every point of failure in your decision before execution. This process will help you refine and strengthen the decision– an especially important step when the decision itself is high stakes. Most importantly, it will ensure you move forward feeling confident that you’re making the best decision possible.
Lesson #3: Make time to reflect!
Too often, leaders do not leave a written record of the decisions they make. Decisions we make, especially the big ones, are an important piece of institutional knowledge that when we leave, we take with us. But if we want our teams and our future selves to make better decisions faster, we need to leave a record to learn from. That record should, at a minimum, include: what problem we were trying to solve, the expected outcome and the actual outcome, the decision owners and supporters, assumptions and other influences, other options considered, and risks and safeguards to the decision.
Most importantly, the record should include an assessment of the decision. Was the outcome the same as what we expected, and is there anything you’d do differently? There is just as much to learn from what happens after a decision is made as there is from the process we go through to make it. Don’t squander this precious resource by not making time to reflect.
To learn more ways you can create a framework to support your decision-making, check out the full episode!
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently.
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