Tag Archives: collaberating

Making Decisions

A past boss of mine,who was a senior executive within the companies C-suite, used to describe one of his key activities as facilitating decisions.

Given his level within the company the focus of his decision facilitation was focused far more on strategic than tactical topics.  Nether the less , his own view of his functional role coincided with mine.

Actually there was a real synergy and integration among his leadership team, including himself, for that reason.  As the senior leader he focused on the achievement of the highest quality decisions.

Most importantly though, he enabled the decision making utilizing the best resources and sources.

Guide don’t Drive

Decision making is simply the thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options.  It involves gathering and analzing the pro’s and con’s of the available data.

The process of making decisions can suffer in quality with too much or too little consideration.  This level of attention is a delicate balance.

My former boss recognized his teams success rested on the quality of decisions.   This then, producing high quality decisions,  became a focus.

This is not to say seemless execution is not needed and expected but rather the critical path to success starts with decision quality.

For Example

A quick and simple example of the potential benefits and risks associated with decision making is that of picking a stock.  A good decision can bring you wealth, while a bad pick could be costly.

 

At least two ways to travel (or more)

Lately, for reasons unknown, my collegues and I have been exploring philoshophical and practical ideas associated with multiple options.  Yesterday’s post focused on individuals and multiple positions they might have.

Today is about the multiple ways to  a destination.

Its a two way street!

Collaberative group decisions and agreements (even if just a group of two) depend not only on the participants positions but also on which bi-ways and highways you choose to arrive at the decision.

There are always multiple paths to follow.  Today’s musing is about how you get to the destination.  Is it the winding mountain path, multi lane super highway or even a road not yet constructed and you need to blast your way through?

Also, to confuse the issue the directions chosen by different participants can be opposite at first (i.e., its a two way street and people are going both ways). You need to be careful to avoid head on collisions.

To make things more difficult, not only might the directions be opposite but the conclusions (i.e., the ultimate destination) might not be in sync.

Herding Cats

Traditionally people believe herding cats to be a difficult task.  Cats are perceived as individual and strong willed.  Getting them to follow common routes can be challenging.

The best approach is not to challenge this.  Remember, everyone is important.  This should be your mantra.  Respect everyones chosen direction.

Determining a common path for everyone to follow , through  dialogue and communication results in the best solution.  Not only is everyone going in the same direction on the same road, but it is by choice.