Good Decision Making: Avoid 7 ‘Quick Decision Pitfalls’

• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Ignoring the Decision
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Going with your Gut
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Involving too many people
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Not Involving Others
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Analysis Paralysis
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Falling prey to the far-fetched or untested
• Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Making decisions in haste

Good Decision Making Pitfall: Ignoring the Decision

It is true that if you want long enough, some decisions will go away, but do you really want them to?  Here are some of the possible outcomes of putting off decision:

• Opportunities to improve pass you by.
• You leave outcomes to chance, when you may have had a much better opportunity to influence the outcome.
• People see you as indecisive and might even begin to work around you.
• People might not consider you for challenging assignments or promotions.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Going with Your Gut

Your intuition is a powerful tool, but if you overestimate its worth, there are several potential consequences:

• Increase the possibility that your decision will go wrong.
• Gambling with your team’s productivity and morale.
• Being seen as reckless and not “thoughtful”
• Intuition is a by-product of experience and countless repetition.  If you don’t have experience in an area, it’s wise not to rely on intuition.  Your choice becomes more of a guess than a decision.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Involving too many people

Sometimes it makes a lot of sense to involve many people in a decision making process, and to gain consensus.  However, sometimes there are drawbacks to such an approach:

• Automatically slows the decision-making process… wasting valuable time.
• Building consensus is difficult to do quickly … so you risk upsetting people.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Not Involving Others

Conversely, some decisions do require the involvement of others, and sometimes leaving people out of decisions is at your peril:

• You risk overlooking key elements that subject matter experts would have seen.
• Those who will be affected by your decision might resent or resist it.

Carefully consider the appropriate number of people that should be involved in the decision.  The appropriate number is normally determined by:

a)    How quickly you need to execute the decision.

b)    How much buy-in you need from others, and how difficult that buy-in will be to achieve in your situation.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Analysis Paralysis

Some data and analysis often serves you well.  However, waiting for perfect information, or dissecting the information in infinite ways may unnecessarily delay a decision.  Some consequences of over-analyzing decisions:

• Opportunities to improve pass you by.
• Others who depend on you to make a quick decisions are unable to move ahead.
• Productivity and morale suffer.

To avoid Analysis Paralysis, remember:

• The 80/20 rule. You often can solve or understand 80 percent of a problem or situation with as little as 20 percent of the information, provided that it’s the right information. If you can get this vital 20 percent, press on.
• Best/Worst case. Put each option you’re considering into perspective by asking yourself, “What’s the best that can happen?” and then “What’s the worst-case scenario if I choose this option?” Taking this approach also will help you quickly assess the relative risks of each option.
• Mental simulations. In rapid decision situations, time is the enemy. You can’t afford to overanalyze, so take a much simpler route: For each option that seems reasonable, ask yourself, “What if” Play out the scenario in your head to identify potential outcomes.
• Trends and patterns. Your decision will be easier—and quicker—if you can identify familiar trends and patterns. This is especially true if you’re relying on data to help you make your choice. Sometimes, knowing only the direction of the data is sufficient without knowing the numbers.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Falling prey to the far-fetched or untested

Under pressure, sometimes fantastic and far-fetched options can be considered.  While nothing should be immediately ruled out, you need to ground your options in reality.  The risks of not being grounded in reality are several:

• You might overlook proven, workable options that are easier to implement.
• Must take time to closely examine the implications of a far-fetched option (and, in doing so, possibly exhaust the time available).
• You may build a reputation as a dreamer who can’t execute on the simple stuff.
• Be sure that any option you’re considering is consistent with the organizational culture and that internal politics won’t be a roadblock.

Good Decision Making Pitfall:  Making decisions in haste

There is a difference between making a quality quick decision, and making a decision in haste.  Here are some pitfalls of making decisions in haste:

• If you’ve assessed the situations incorrectly … maybe the decision doesn’t need to be made quickly.
• The decision might generate more problems down the road.
• You can gain a reputation for jumping to conclusions.
• Speed and simplicity. Your ability to reduce the scope of the decision and the complexity of the process is key to making a rapid decision. Actively strive to keep things simple.

Three Things to Remember about Making Quality Quick Decisions:

1. Determine whether a quick decision is appropriate for the situation, and then act accordingly.
2. Narrow the number of options and cut through unnecessary information.
3. Rely on your experience, good judgment, leadership intuition and subject matter experts as appropriate.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Good Decision Making (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

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