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Decisions: How Close Are You To A 100% Strike Rate?
Managers, team leaders and their staff can take as many as a
hundred or more decisions in the course of a day, each day and
every day. Many of these decisions are, of course, no more than
automatic responses to familiar situations in which they have to
choose between two or three options. However, from time to time,
we all have to take decisions on which the course of our future
and that of others depends. Then, it is a question of making
sure they are right. Here are 6 principles to guide you in right
decision-making.
1. Time Them. There are two traps which people fall into
when making decisions: making them too soon and making them too
late. Some people make decisions too swiftly and without due
thought. This may be because they are uncomfortable with the
tension that is created when a decision has to be made but they
don't have all the information needed. Instead of living with
tension, they make the decision before time. Other people delay
making decisions because they fear making a mistake or fear the
changes that will result. The best decisions are hot-iron
decisions: those that are well-timed, which you make when the
iron is hot and the time is right.
2. Align Them. The more decisions you make consciously,
the more you can align them with your goals and purposes.
Studies show that the average person makes 612 decisions a day.
Each one takes us closer or further from our ultimate goals in
life. In a week, that means 4,900 decisions. In a year, 254,800.
Results are cumulative. Strategic thinking means looking at how
your decisions today affect your tomorrows. When your decisions
are in alignment with what's important to you, then life becomes
meaningful, productive and delightful.
3. Balance Them.There are three balancing acts to be
aware of in taking a good decision. They are: * Care and not
care. Do all your worrying before the decision and once a
decision has been taken, stop worrying. * Think and act. Too
much thinking puts off the action; too much action may be at the
expense of thought. Seek the right balance. * Look before you
leap and leap before you look. See the possible risks of your
decision but, once decided, take the plunge with courage.
4. Act When You Have To. You should only make decisions
when you have to. Here are five "don'ts" to guide you. * DON'T
make a decision unless you have two or more equally valid
options. * DON'T make a decision if it's somebody else's
responsibility. * DON'T make a decision unless there
is
disagreement. * DON'T make a decision about irrelevant matters.
* DON'T make a decision if it can't be turned into action. "If
there's one thing I've learned in politics, it is: never make a
decision until you have to." (Margaret Thatcher)
5. Don't Decide Without Acting. Eric Aronson tells this
riddle: If 5 birds are sitting on a wire and one of them decides
to fly away, how many are left? The answer is five. One bird's
decision to fly away does not mean it did! Theodore Roosevelt
said that the worst thing you could do when you have to make a
decision is to do nothing. Even if you make a wrong decision,
the very making of it and the learning from it are steps
forward. As Frederick Langbridge added, "If you don't follow
through on a decision, someone else will pick it up and use it.
When you make a decision, jump in with both feet, don't just
stick your toe in the water. Be daring, be fearless, and don't
be afraid that somebody is going to criticize you or laugh at
you. If your ego is not involved, no one can hurt you."
6. Keep Your Decision Under Review. Decisions are a mix
of what we currently want (goals); what we currently know
(information); what we believe (outcomes); and what we can do
(actions). There is no guarantee that any of these will stay the
same or that they will come right. No decision is perfect. This
is because... * half-way through the implementation of a
decision we may realise we don't want to achieve the goal after
all. * after taking a decision, we may stumble across more
information which, had we had it before, would have totally
changed our decision. * since outcomes depend on an educated
guess about the future, we might guess wrong. * a successful
decision depends as much on motivation and skill in
implementation as on getting it right.
Nobody who regularly makes important decisions affecting the
lives of others will tell you hand on heart that they get it
right every time. Decision-taking is more of an art than a
science. But practice, and learning from our results, may at
least take us closer down the road to a 100% strike rate.
About the author:
© 2005, Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com
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