What Is Effective Decision Making?
Picture: Nimsdai Project Possible via AP
And well, are great leaders’ effective decision-makers? The simple answer is yes, great leaders, successful leaders in life and business, are decisive.
For a moment I ask you to stop and imagine. Let’s imagine (fictitiously) that you’ve always wanted to achieve and tick off your bucket list, climbing Mt Everest. Not just to base camp, but all the way to the summit. You’ve done your bit, you’ve been increasing your fitness through endurance and altitude training. You’ve saved enough money to buy the equipment you need and booked the tickets. And finally, after years of preparation, your dream is hours from becoming a reality. You’ve already made it to base camp and you’re a several hours in, climbing to the summit. You can feel the excitement and anticipation of reaching the top. Suddenly you stop, there is a line up, a delay. The delay is substantial, your oxygen supply is decreasing, but the line is moving, albeit slowly. You’re almost to the top when you can see the weather is starting to turn, perhaps a storm.
You find yourself at a very risky junction. Do you continue to wait given you are so close to the summit after waiting so long? Or do you turn around and return to camp, to safety, before the weather sets in? Do you wait and rely on the decision-making ability of your guide, your leader? Or do you make your own decisions? Any decision-making requires good judgement, but in extreme circumstances like this, when the mind is clouded by lack of oxygen, ego and other emotions; and the body can’t properly function, you want to know you are being led by an effective decision-maker, if in fact, you are not one yourself.
Now you may be thinking this is an extreme example to use, but is it really that extreme?
We are constantly making decisions, from the moment we wake in the morning until the time we go to sleep at night. But how many of those decisions do we make consciously? How many do we stop and think through what form of action we should take? Much of our daily decision making has been automated through habits and beliefs. We are presented with an event and we simply react without thought. An example of this is crossing the road; if you approach a high traffic area your automatic decision is to stop and wait for the traffic to pass before stepping out onto the road. You don’t need to think about this, you just know it and do it without thought.
But then there are other decisions, much larger decisions, that we haven’t create habits to manage and have a much larger impact or consequence on our lives and our future. Decisions like, what will I study, what career do I peruse, who will I marry, do I want children, will I apply for that job, will I ask for a promotion, will I start my own business, will I move States/Countries, should I stay or should I go, should I buy that house or not, should I quit or should I stay? When decisions like these and more require your attention, how do you tackle them? Decisively based on a clear vision of what you want and where you are going? If so you are one of the lucky ones because most decisions, if we make one at all, are made under varying circumstances and frames of minds. You might say when your mind is clouded; you’re under pressure, stressed, highly emotional, angry, calm and controlled, highly vulnerable or while in a state of confidence.
“A wise man makes his own decisions. An ignorant follows public opinion”
And I did say, if we make a decision at all. Most of us are very good at not making decisions or relinquishing the control of decision making to others. We are masters of procrastination and renouncing responsibility with excuses like; I need more information (paralysis by analysis), I want to see what my parents, friends, family think (seeking their permission), I need more time to think it through, I don’t have the money/time/skills yet, I’ll do it when …. And of course, this indecisiveness has negative consequences on our lives, but we continue to do it anyway.
Bob Proctor, a world-renowned Author, Motivational Speaker and Success Coach, puts it this way, ‘anyone who finds themselves in such a mental state is not living; at best, they are merely existing’. Merely existing because you are living with a daily internal conflict that creates mental clutter, dis-ease, dis-organisation and discontent. Merely existing because you take no steps towards achieving the true success you want from life. And this holds true whether you are a leader of a team, a large organisation or a leader of yourself and your life.
In his book “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill states it requires courage to make decisions. So, ask yourself what are you scared of? What is the worst that can happen by making a choice and sticking to it? Now don’t get me wrong, every decision has risks associated with it, no matter how big or small. But ask yourself what is the risk of NOT doing it?
“Sometimes being undecided is more painful than making the wrong decision.”
So, what is effective decision-making and how can you take steps to improve your own decision-making capabilities?
Effective decision making requires:
Thinking. Effective decision makers are great thinkers. They stop and switch off from auto-pilot (their habits and beliefs and all that chatter in their mind) and consciously think through and control their thoughts.
Identification. Effective decision makers can clearly identify when a decision requires ‘thinking’, conscious consideration and when a decision is best suited to habitual action ie crossing the road.
Action. Effective decision makers come to a decision quickly and begin to take action on that decision immediately.
You can improve you and your team’s decision making by:
Vision – have a clear vision on where you are heading and what success looks like when you get there. Without a vision, a goal and a plan on what you want to achieve, then you are flying blind when it comes to decision making.
Advice – when making decisions perspective is important, and the way to gain perspective is to be curious and seek advice from people who respect you and want to see you succeed. Don’t confuse seeking advice from seeking permission. They are very different. One relinquishes control of making any decision, the other is seeking opinion and wisdom to help guide your decision.
Regret – apply the regret test; if you don’t make this decision or you don’t do this thing will you regret it later in life? The last thing any of us want is to be at the end of our time in this world and regret all the things we didn’t do, instead of celebrating a full and successful life.
Committed Action – develop a plan and act immediately. Deciding is one thing, but unless you act on it, you made no decision at all. You simply said you were going to do something, but then never committed to do it.
Reflect – reflect on the results of your actions and evaluate your progress. Do you need to make some adjustments to your plan? Then do so but keep taking action until you achieve the goal your decision gave life to.
“It’s in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped”
I’d love to hear your thoughts.