It’s being heralded as the worst call in Super Bowl history. Maybe in the history of football.

If you don’t follow American football, this moment of utter disbelief is mostly meaningless. But when you’re inches away from the biggest prize in American sports, with one of the strongest running backs in your arsenal, it seems incomprehensible to call a pass play.

That gets intercepted.

That snatches a repeat Super Bowl victory from your grasp.

It’s like a soccer player being gifted a penalty kick in front of a goal without a keeper. Then the coach telling him to aim for the upper ninety. And the player misses wide.

There’s no shortage of criticism of coach Pete Carroll and his offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. From players on Twitter to pundits on sports channels to average fans on Facebook, the decision to pass is widely considered not just bad—but perhaps the worst ever.

Leaders and Decision-Making

Coaches call plays. Players make innumerable decisions as they try to execute a game plan. Whether on the field of play or in the office today, leaders face countless decisions.

Thankfully for most of us, we don’t have millions of viewers looking over our shoulder. But let’s be clear. If you lead people or projects, you’re going to make some bad calls. In some cases, you’re going to make some really bad calls. Your bosses will make bad decisions. It’s just part of the game.

History is littered with bad decisions, from the field of play to business. In some cases it’s stupid people making irresponsible decisions. But in their Harvard Business Review article “Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions”, the authors present insights from neurobiology and psychology that consistently show “important decisions made by intelligent, responsible people with the best information and intentions are sometimes hopelessly flawed.”

When Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions

Whether it’s on the sidelines or the boardroom, when you see decisions that leave you scratching your head, try to remember the following:

• “Optimism increases in direct proportion to one’s distance from the problem.” The next time you find yourself railing on why your government leader or a senior manager in your organization (or the coach of your favorite sports team) made a lousy decision, try to remember this quote from British novelist John Galsworthy. It’s easier to call it stupid the further we are from having to make the decision. I’m as apt as the next guy to complain about a referee’s call (or lack thereof) when I’m on the sidelines watching my child’s soccer game. It wasn’t until I was volunteered to be an assistant referee on the sidelines that I truly appreciated how fast games move and decisions aren’t quite as easy when I’m holding the flag. Social media makes it easy to lob missiles from the cheap seats. Everyone is a pundit. Galsworthy reminds us that calling the plays of a Super Bowl game may not be as straightforward if you’re on the field with the headset on and clock ticking. It’s the same in the workplace. This doesn’t mean a decision is a good one. It just offers some humility in our processing of it.
• Remember the leader attribution error. In my conversation with renowned management expert Henry Mintzberg, we talked about myths related to leaders. The leader attribution error finds that leaders get too much credit when things go right and too much blame when things go awry. When the economy is steaming along, your governmental leaders probably get more credit than they deserve. And when the pass gets intercepted, the coach probably gets more blame than is justified. This often rubs people wrong because it seems to remove some amount of accountability. But what if receiver Ricardo Lockette would have been more aggressive going for the pass? What if quarterback Russell Wilson would have read the defender better and just threw the ball away? What if the pass was caught, scoring a game-winning touchdown? Brilliant call, coach! You can see it on the other side of the field as well. Tom Brady walked away from Super Bowl XLIX as the Most Valuable Player. Yet if his undrafted rookie teammate Malcolm Butler wouldn’t have made his brilliant interception, Brady’s own performance would have been called into question. If I’m Tom Brady, I’m throwing the keys to my new Chevy truck (the award given to the MVP) to Mr. Butler!
• You have to own it. When (not if) we make a bad decision, we have to take responsibility for it. Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll did just that after the game. He didn’t wait to craft a carefully worded press release. He owned it. “There’s really nobody to blame but me, and I told them (the players) that clearly. And I don’t want them to think anything other than that. They busted their tails and did everything they needed to do to put us in position, and unfortunately it didn’t work out. A very, very hard lesson. I hate to learn the hard way, but there’s no other way to look at it right now.” Contrast that to what you see from too many political and business leaders. You get far more grace when you admit the bad decision instead of seek to find excuses and scapegoats.

My brother-in-law lives in Seattle. About an hour after the game he texted me, “Last year I felt differently at this point in the night.” It’s not fun to lose, whether on a football field or a project team.

But we’re going to make bad decisions. And bad decisions will be made by others. Chances are they won’t be the worst decisions in the history of your company. But they will happen.

May we respond more like Pete Carroll when it’s our call that goes bad. And may we seek some perspective when the call is made by others.

What’s a lesson you’ve learned about dealing with bad decisions? What do you agree with in this assessment of the Seahawk’s loss? Disagree with? Join the discussion with your comments below.