Decision Making 101
All the tips the Lord had shared so far sounded like great ideas, like a fine balancing act, but how were managers to execute? I was about to ask, but the Lord read my mind and started answering.
“Great question Sam. I am thinking of an old Chinese saying. The quote is: ‘Good decisions come from wisdom. Wisdom comes from experience. Experience comes from bad decisions.’”
That looked so good when it lit up the screens. I can’t tell how many bad decisions I have made. I hope I learned from them…but some habits are hard to break and sometimes we keep doing the same mistakes repeatedly hoping for a different result. I thought that was part of a quote from Einstein about insanity. The Lord nodded in agreement and then continued.
“In order to undertake any decisions within an organization, everyone within the organization, especially those who are impacted by the decision or are called to support the decision, need to have critical information. The one who needs the information the most are managers and leaders who need that information to help make decisions.”
The Lord looked out the window at the distant horizon. I wondered how far he was able to see. He turned around and said, “The worst decisions happen when you know in your gut it is not right, and you do it anyway.”
An image of a river appeared on the screen.
“A decision is like a river. A river is the life energy that transforms everything it touches. All the tributaries help feed a river and the river helps feed larger bodies of water and sustains the entire ecosystem. Similarly, a strong decision is made based on all the data that has filtered down to form the framework for the decision. Once the decision is made, it impacts everything else thereafter. If a river is contaminated or a tributary is blocked, the results can be disastrous downstream. Similarly, a decision made with flawed information or implemented incorrectly will change the flow of an organization.”
The screens roared to life with so much water. It looked like Niagara Falls. That got me thinking though that like Niagara Falls, there can be so much data that it makes getting all the data impossible.
“You’re right, Sam. Information overload can happen, and that is why managers need to filter out the best and most accurate data from the garbage or distraction. A great example of having the right information involved Moses and Joshua. When Moses sent the spies to investigate the Promised Land, he had them produce their results in a very public manner. When ten of the 12 spies gave a negative report, it impacted everything. The people were scared, and Moses was not able to motivate them. The spies provided correct, but biased information. Moses was not able to spin it to ‘Israel Inc.’s’ benefit and that resulted in many more years in the desert. Moses was trying to appease the people by choosing representatives from every tribe so he could generate consensus.”
I interrupted.
“You mean that having a democratic process is not good?”
I turned red. How embarrassing and inappropriate for me to interrupt the Lord.
“Don’t worry, Sam. We’re friends.” The Lord then continued, “Democracy is not always good. Sometimes trying to get everyone involved- such as all the stakeholders’ input- is the end to effective decision making. Everyone wants to have a say, and everyone might have a different perspective. That is why Joshua made a better executive decision. When he sent spies to the Promised Land, he only sent two spies- people he could truly trust. He also had them report just to him, not to the entire nation. Then he was able to make an executive decision free of politics and fanfare. That resulted in Joshua having the right information to make the informed decision.”
It was a great comparison for me. Here you have two great leaders in basically the same situations. One made a bad decision with flawed data and no support and the other made a good decision with significant support. Maybe democracy does not always work. Decisions need to be made in the context of the situation. No perfection, just trying to leverage as much information as possible, parsing out the good, bad, and biased, and then deciding. That sounded so simple, but I knew it was much more difficult than it sounded.
I was expecting the game show lights and confetti. But nothing.
“Sam you are correct, there are often no easy decisions. Even small decisions can have untold impact. I think you call it the butterfly effect. Deciding what flower to plant might seem like a simple decision, but it can impact weeds, bees, how beautiful a garden might be, and so on. What seems simple can have a profound effect. That is why it is so important to analyze both simple and complex decisions as you never which might be the most critical in the long run.”
