![]() ![]() Which is how I came to my third decision-making method: use a timer. “No,” The CEO was resolute, “We will make a decision within the next 15 minutes.” Maybe we should continue the conversation at dinner, or at the next offsite.” “Hold on,” the CFO responded, “this is a complex decision. “We need to make a decision in the next 15 minutes.” I was thinking about this in the offsite meeting while we were discussing, yet again, the same decision we had debated in the past about what to do with a certain business, when the CEO spoke up. Leadership teams tend to perseverate over this sort of decision for a long time, collecting more data, excessively weighing pros and cons, soliciting additional opinions, delaying while they wait - hope - for a clear answer to emerge.īut what if we could use the fact that there is no clear answer to make a faster decision? Most importantly, they are decisions for which there is no clear, right answer. These decisions are impossible to habitualize and can’t be resolved with if/then rules. These are precisely the kinds of decisions which can linger for weeks, months, or even years, stalling the progress of entire organizations. ![]() These were decisions like how to respond to a competitive threat, which products to invest more deeply in, how to better integrate an acquisition, where to reduce a budget, how to organize reporting relationships, and so on. They were facing a number of unique, one-off decisions, the outcomes of which couldn’t be accurately predicted. I discovered a simple solution to making challenging choices more efficiently at an offsite last week with the CEO and senior leadership team of a high tech company. What we haven’t solved for are the larger more strategic decisions that aren’t habitual and can’t be predicted. ![]() These two techniques - habits and if/then - can help streamline many typical, routine choices we face in our lives. My if/then rule might be: if the person interrupts me two times in a conversation, then I will say something. For example, let’s say someone constantly interrupts me and I’m not sure how to respond. The second method is to use if/then thinking to routinize unpredictable choices. That works for predictable and routine decisions. The idea is that if you build a habit -for example: always eat salad for lunch - then you avoid the decision entirely and you can save your decision-making energy for other things. The first method is to use habits as a way to reduce routine decision fatigue. So how can we handle decisions of all kinds more efficiently? I have three methods that I use, two of which I talk about in my book, Four Seconds, the third which I discovered last week. If I am going to have that difficult conversation, when should I do it? And how should I start? Should I call them or see them in person or email them? Should I do it publicly or in private? How much information should I share? And on and on. These questions are followed by an infinite number of other questions. Which products should we pursue and which should we kill? Who should I hire or fire? Should I initiate that difficult conversation? If these mundane decisions drag on our time and energy, think about the bigger ones we need to make, in organizations, all the time. Even when deciding between kale salad (healthy and light), salmon (a heavier protein), and ravioli (tasty, but high carbs). The problem is, that while they may be equally attractive, they are also differently attractive, with tradeoffs that require compromise. We spend an inordinate amount of time, and a tremendous amount of energy, making choices between equally attractive options in everyday situations. If not about food, then about something else. Is this a silly decision not deserving deliberation? Maybe. ![]() I perused the restaurant menu for several minutes, struggling with indecision, each item tempting me in a different way. ![]()
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