A decision is a choice between two or more alternative. It is one of the defining characteristics of leadership.Making decisions is what managers and leaders are paid to do. Everything starts with a decision making. Life itself is about making decisions.
The reality seems to be that most organizations are not overrun by good decision makers, yet alone great ones. When asked, people do not easily point to what they regard as great decisions. Stories of bad decisions and bad decision-making come much more readily to mind.
Some of that is due to our tendency to notice and recall exceptions against all the times things go as planned. For example, you have walked along side buildings more times than you could possibly count. Yet you remember vividly the one time you got nailed by a pigeon overhead.
That is how we are about bad decisions. We are also that way because the really bad ones tend to really hurt.
But the fact that we are hard-wired to make decisions does not by itself make us good decision-makers. That takes discipline: discipline to do at least four things all the time and well.
1. Realize when and why a decision is needed
2. Declare the decision: decide what the decision is, how will it be implemented, and who should be involved.
3. Work the decision: generate a complete set of alternatives, gather the necessary information to understand the possibilities and probabilities, and ultimately make a choice that best fits our values.
4. Commit resources and act.
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