Decisions. Weak and strong. Good and bad. Top-Down and as a group. 1+1=3?

The basics

As a company every decision is taken on the idea to move the company forward in the best possible way in that moment. It should be understandable and based on logic thinking.

Since we are all social humans other things also come into play. Everyone is more motivated when they are part of a decision, especially when they are affected by it.

And second it is a sign of status as a leader/team member that you have a strong say in a decision. So, a great decision should not be based on hierarchy or on a democratic vote. Both might happen, but should be the exception to the rule.

But how do you know it is the best decision?

Their is not objectively good and bad decision. So how can you come closest to a great decision?

From idea to decision — a little process:

You might have an idea which I believe is great.You will think about it hard, sleep some nights above it. Write everything down in. Search the internet for background information. Think about why could it be wrong. Or there better ideas/solutions to the problem?

The second step is to talk to a team member / other people. With the first/second person you are talking about your idea you get a good understanding if you are completely off topic or if it is a good idea. When you get a strong contra, you should listen. It is possible you have to adapt, develop your idea further with the feedback. But you shouldn’t stop just because of a no. The more diverse feedback your idea gets, staying still clear and great, the better it is.

This is what 1+1=3 means for us as a team.

In the best scenario, you grow the idea, from yours to everyone’s. Finally deciding and doing it is then pretty easy and straightforward.

Responsibilities and organisational structures

As a company work is divided and split up into departments and teams. They have certain responsibilities and a deeper knowledge about their field. Simple decision are these where only the team is affected by. So only the team has to be involved in it.

For most of the bigger and more critical decisions this is not true, so it is important to work with the key stakeholders on finding the best decision.

What to do in conflict?

Some great ideas seem to other team members as bad ideas, but maybe they aren’t. You went through the process described above, you wrote the basic idea down, you talked to important stakeholders but you reached no agreement?

In this case the formal hierarchy comes into play. Do you have the authority to take this decision? Are you responsible for it and is your “boss” aligned with your decision? Then go ahead and take the decision, knowing about the contras and the risks involved.

Steering and learning

Once a decisions is taking, it is just the beginning of doing it, learning about it. The less certain you are about it, the more flexible the decision should be to steer and learn along the way. In a very uncertain, always changing environment as we are, this is very very critical.

A good decision has clear, testable goals/milestones. They enable to verify the decision in the long run. And they help you steer them, keep learning about them and improving them along the way.

Or maybe you find it it wasn’t as good as you all thought, then it is time to stop it.

Untaken decisions and prioritization

Not taking a decision is actually also just a decision. Not taking a decision can be as bad as taking the wrong decision. Taking risk is important to move forward.

Wanting to do something, but prioritizing it not high enough is another common problem. It is somehow as you had never decided doing it.