This Is How To Be An Effective Decision Maker: A Leadership Imperative

You can’t be both. You can’t be an effective leader and an ineffective decision maker. If you are deemed an effective leader, one factor driving this perception will be your ability to think critically about things and show up as an effective decision maker.

And, if you are deemed an ineffective leader, a key driving factor will be that others lack confidence in your ability to consistently apply critical thinking and effective decision-making skills. No amount of education, training or good will can overcome a pattern of poor judgement, unethical behavior and reckless or uninformed decisions.

Being an Effective Decision Maker is a Leadership Imperative

Managers, at every level, are expected to demonstrate an ability to assess their environments, evaluate strategic priorities and make sound (informed) decisions regarding strategy, operations, budgets, employees, etc. In all my years of strategy and management consulting work, I’ve found that decision making is one of the most sought-after skills.

However, I’ve also found that this skill—effective decision making—is the least evaluated or assessed prior to making hiring and promotional decisions.

Given this, most people at the higher ranks within organizations are, by default, deemed to be effective decision makers. Without completing prior testing or evaluative processes, these individuals are simply deemed to be effective decision makers by virtue of the titles they hold and the corresponding authority bestowed upon them as a result.

Effective leaders—and unmistakable strategic thinkers—recognize the importance of consistently making sound and well-informed decisions as they lead their teams, advance organizational goals and execute for strategic priorities. These leaders know how to identify problems and analyze issues. To do this well, they apply a whole-systems approach where they consider the accountabilities and implications for their decisions, and they teach managers (throughout the organization) to do the same.

Apply this Process to Become an Effective Decision Maker

Before you make decisions for—or offer up solutions to—problems, you should rely on a good problem-solving process. I recommend that you first define the problem or issue that you need to make decisions about and then contemplate against viable alternative solutions.

It’s important that even here (at the outset) you make effective decisions during each step of the process.

1. Define the problem. To get to the root cause consider this 5-Why technique.
2. Research the relevant data, information and facts.
3. Generate and analyze alternatives and possible solutions.
4. Evaluate alternatives and decide which is the best solution.
5. Plan and implement the solution.
6. Monitor and follow up to ensure success.

10 Sets of Questions You’ll Use as an Effective Decision Maker

At the core, there are basically three types of decisions that organizational managers and executives make on a regular basis.

1. Strategic decisions – these decisions affect the long-term direction of the organization.
2. Tactical decisions – these decisions address intermediate issues to help achieve strategy priorities.
3. Operational – these decisions deal with day-to-day issues to advance operations.

Here are the ten sets of core questions you should ponder and contemplate as an effective decision maker. Apply this as part of your decision-making process regardless of decision type (strategic, tactical, operational).

1. Why do I/we need to care about this issue? Or, what prompted the need for this decision to be made?
2. What happens if I/we don’t decide on this issue? Is the status quo acceptable? Why or why not?
3. What outcomes are we trying to achieve? Who cares about them and why?
4. What are my/our biases, prejudices, interests or values? Are they congruent with the defined decision options?
5. Whom will this decision mostly affect? How?
6. What are the positive and negative consequences of this decision? What is this based on?
7. Who are the short-term and long-term beneficiaries? Who gets to define them?
8. What is the worst result this decision can bring? Can I/we live with that? Why?
9. What are forces for or against this decision? Do I/we care? Why or why not?
10. What is the second choice/option or fallback position? Is it viable, and how do I/we know?

These steps matter. These processes matter. These questions matter. In order to make sound and informed decisions, apply decision-making methods that lead to more effective decisions.

Do it because you are an effective leader. Do it because you really care about the quality of your decisions and the impact they have. Do it because failing to anticipate the consequences of your decisions can lead to disastrous results. Do it because it’s the right thing to do. Do it because you want to be an effective decision maker.

Some of the Smartest People Make Horrible Decisions

It’s bizarre how a skill such as decision making can be so vital for organizational success, strategy development and execution, operational leadership, budget alignment and allocations, etc. but have very few (if any) measurement and evaluation protocols in place.

At least, far too often, nothing formal tends to be in place prior to a disaster happening or something collapsing (e.g., the Enron accounting fraud scheme, the Bernard Madoff investment scandal, the 2008 financial and housing crisis, the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the 2019 Boeing 737 Max FAA disaster and the 1912 Titanic tragedy just to name a few).

“How do you feel about trusting your life and fortune to gullible, uninformed and unreflective people?” – George Carlin, comedic monologue

In every single instance, you have some of the smartest people in the room. In the above examples, you see that education didn’t outrun bad and ineffective decision making. Ineffective decisions are made by so-called effective (even exceptional) managers and leaders just as easily as they are made by so-called ineffective (and struggling) managers and leaders.

Having many years of experience isn’t a safety net from making bad decisions. College degrees, elite schools and certifications haven’t provided reassurance. And being thought of as world-renowned, a powerhouse or exceptionally talented didn’t prove the difference maker either.

Poor Decision Making Destroys Credibility

Most, if not all, of the people who think you are an effective leader won’t think so after you fail to make good decisions frequently enough. They also won’t think so if after years of being an effective decision maker, you all of a sudden make one or more horrible ones.

At both ends of the spectrum, uninformed (and reckless) decisions end up making the organization—and you—look really bad. It makes you look like an ineffective leader at best and a reckless amateur at worst.

Show yourself to be an effective decision maker, and it will advance your leadership standing. Making good, sound and informed decisions is one of the many things that effective leaders do well. Remove this element (make unethical, poorly thought-out decisions) and your success as a leader will be fleeting—if you ever achieve any at all.