Decision Making and Work Management

 

It didn't really matter what it was about, if the only reason my father could give me was, "because I said so," I automatically didn't like his decision.  However, as a father myself, I must admit there were times when I pulled the "because I said so" card.

Fortunately, my wife was always good at explaining why we made the kinds of decisions we did.

Last week we briefly talked about some decision-making techniques used by the 2002 Winter Olympic Games COO Fraser Bullock.  Among other things, we started to talk about his "start slow to go fast" approach to making decisions.

The technique really resonated with me.  Bullock described the challenge of making decisions in a vacuum and the implementation challenges associated with the surprise announcement of any single decision.  Particularly with decisions that initiate change.  Bullock suggested that involving others in the organization in the decision-making process enables better buy-in by those who will be impacted by the change.  Although there are some CEOs who believe that involving others as decisions are being made, slows down the process and costs time, Mr. Bullock argues that the time lost by "starting slow" and engaging those impacted by the decision, ultimately allows the organization to "go fast" during the implementation phase.

Although I might be able to convince my wife to help CEOs (or any project decision maker) explain what they are doing when they make abrupt and surprising decisions, it might not be too practical.  However, Fraser Bullock described the 37,000 tasks associated with pulling of a successful Olympic Games as a decision-making challenge of Herculean proportions.  His "start slow to go fast" decision-making approach made it possible to make a lot of very smart decisions.

I once worked with a man who practiced what Bullock preaches.  He used to say, "It's easy for me to make a mistake, but it's unlikely that we will collectively make big mistakes."  He fostered an environment where ideas were freely exchanged, differences of opinion were discussed, and consensus was reached.  His was a very successful organization where everyone on the team felt empowered to positively impact the enterprise.  Unfortunately, some entrepreneurs look down their nose at the word "consensus."

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games have been recognized as one of the most successful Games in the history of the Olympics, and makes a powerful arguement for starting slow to go fast.

What does you organization do to foster good decision-making practices?