Outcome-Focused Decision Making
Good decision making starts by defining the desired outcome
The more time I spend in leadership roles, the more I reflect on what it takes to make good decisions. I have previously written about strategies for decision making and I am preparing an article on the importance of trade-offss as well.
This article is about another important aspect to it:
Be clear about the outcome we want to achieve.
Sounds like a logical first step? Certainly. But there are a couple of challenges we have to navigate along the way…
Outcome Clarity
Last year, we focused on an initiative to introduce a Tech Lead role. There were a few reasons to tackle it. And, being ambitious, we wanted the role to solve team-based technical leadership as well as department-wide decision making.
The outcome was unclear so the rollout was anything but a success. There was confusion in the group about responsibilities. On top of that people were running off in lots of different directions. It took us quite a bit of effort to adjust and bring it back to something more focused.
It all started with the initiative outcome. It was unclear what we wanted to achieve.
Outcome Drift
Even more recently, we decided to introduce some high-level team health metrics across the engineering organisation. Mainly to ensure all teams collect some data and we get a rough idea of their situation.
Sounds like a reasonable ask and a clear, desired outcome. (So far, so good)
Unfortunately, we got side-tracked along the way. To achieve the goal, some teams invested in a new project management tool. This did not prevent us from achieving our initial goal (Consistent Health Metrics). But it shifted the desired outcome away from it, towards Better Project Management.
The drifting of outcomes is not always a bad thing. But if it happens, it needs to be a conscious choice.
Being Outcome-Focused
There are a lot of factors when it comes to making good decisions. And the definition and clarity of the desired outcome plays a big part. Following are a couple of strategies I have found helpful:
Define the outcome
Before diving into an initiative or weighing up options, step back and define the desired outcome. If possible, we want a single outcome to make sure the decision stays small and focused.
Identify outcome drift
Every so often, while we work through the initiative, it is worth checking back on whether our options are still focused on the desired outcome. If not, we have two options:
- Either our original outcome is still worth pursuing and we need to adjust our approach; or
- The goalposts have changed and it is time to adjust the desired outcome.
We often skip over the last part and miss communicating the adjustment — after all, we are on the ‘right’ path. But, a change in outcomes is as big a deal as a change in the chosen solution and needs to be shared as well.
Making good decisions takes the right mindset, approach, and — of course — a bit of luck.
And it all starts by defining the desired outcome.
