How to Make Decisions Like a Leader
Poor decisions are often about human frailty, not logic, situations, and information.
You’ll continue making poor decisions until you acknowledge the human-frailty-factor. More information doesn’t solve decision-fatigue, for example.
Decision fatigue:
The quality of decisions goes down as the day wears on if you are making many decisions. Research shows a parole board’s decisions dropped from 65% favorable to nearly 0% over a short time span of decision-making.
Human frailties cause poor decisions.
5 ways to deal with human frailty:
- Take breaks.
- Eat snacks.
- Stand and stretch.
- Go for a short walk.
- Take a nap.
7 decision-making tips:
#1. Decide what you want before reacting to a person or situation.
Decide where you want to go, before you begin the race.
#2. Don’t give yourself an escape hatch. If you create an escape hatch, you’ll use it.
#3. Forget the decision for a few minutes.
Sigal Barsade, leadership@wharton, demonstrates that a few minutes of meditation enables better decision-making.
- Breathe-in for a count of three.
- Hold it for a count of one.
- Breathe-out for a count of five.
Do the above for as little as two minutes. Now, make your decision.
#4. Be a learner more than a knower.
The belief that you’re an expert closes your mind. Read, “Rookie Smarts,” by Liz Wiseman.
#5. Determine the purpose and scope of the decision.
- What’s at stake?
- Who is impacted?
#6. Test your gut because intuition is often wrong. Read, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman.
#7. Forget sunk-cost.
You tend to continue a losing course of action because you’ve invested time, energy, or money. Sunk-cost should never be the reason you continue a losing course of action.
Best decision-making advice:
Learn and adapt as you go.
Best decision-making book:
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
What decision-making tips seem most important?
What decision-making suggestions might you add?
Take time in defining the problem. In what other ways could the problem be defined?
Look at it from multiple points of view.
Solicit other people’s ideas. Involve the right people in defining the problem and identifying solutions.
Can the decision be reversed if needed.
Thanks Paul. It sure helps to define the problem before trying to solve it.
One of the most useful things to do is seek input from others. It stimulates your own thinking and often causes a third option to come to mind.
Knowing when it’s time to get more input vs. trusting my gut is important. Is more information needed and available? Do I have time to collect it before deciding? Who do I go to for help? I appreciate the discussion on the importance of taking a break! Thanks!
You know, I see decisions made all the time from the one person in the room that doesn’t know much, but talks too much. Just a reflection.
Expanding perspectives is imperative,
but requires a consensus be established, the various assumptions underlying those perspectives prioritized and resolved,
and the DECISION BE EXPLAINED (in strategic terms at min., in aligned tactical clear terms optimally) to ensure sustainability of those terms over time.
This is the core purpose of true leadership – facilitation, not dictation.
Speaking of time and dictation, NEVER FORGET/IGNORE SUNK COSTS, lest you repeat the experiential cycle of of loss in a similar manner under different cover. Same as history. Just don’t let it hold you back from TRULY adapting/innovating. IMHO.
Thanks for more inspiring food for thought, Dan.