Decisions combine facts with theory, leading to action.

In this session, you will learn about different types of decisions, the difference between facts and information, and common decision-making traps.

What it Means

Making the decision will lead us to action, and that is a good thing! There is not much benefit to defining a problem unless something is done about it. Luckily, there are plenty of tools to help you make the best decision in a particular situation.

Making Winning Decisions

Whether you are making a decision as an individual or as a group, some ground rules of the decision-making process are:

• Encourage everyone to participate.
• Encourage new ideas without criticism, since new concepts come from outside our normal perception. Without considering new decisions, the situation or circumstance remains the same.
• Build on each other’s ideas.
• Whenever possible, use data to facilitate problem-solving.
• Remember that solving problems and making decisions is a creative process. This means that new ideas and new understandings often result from the process.

In order to reach decisions, the group should agree to the following standards:

• Make decisions based on the best data available.
• Research and locate required information or data.
• Discuss criteria for making a decision (cost, time, impact, etc.) before choosing an option.
• Encourage and explore different interpretations of data.

Types of Decisions

Three Types of Decisions

We tend to make three kinds of decisions. The autocratic decision is one you make alone. You do not consult anyone, and you accept full responsibility for the consequences of your decision.

Your second choice is a consultative decision, when you talk over the problem with another person or persons, such as a more experienced superior or several of your colleagues or teammates. Two heads are frequently better than one when a serious decision must be made.

A third possibility is a group decision. When a problem involves the entire staff or a team, they should participate in the decision. Being involved also gives them some ownership, which will make them more committed and motivated to the decision and the results that come with it.

Advice from an Expert

Inevitably, we will make some decisions that are less than ideal, especially when we look back on something we have done in the past. This is why we have to commit to using the data that is available, rather than relying strictly on intuition or making a guess.

If you make a decision that haunts you, this advice from Claude George has been around since the 1970s and is still valid today:

• Do not ignore it or cover it up, because this will not go away.
• Accept that it is probably not the first or last poor decision you will make. The goal is for the large percentage of your decisions to be good ones. If so, then your overall average will be acceptable.
• Learn from your mistakes. Ask yourself where you went wrong. Get advice from those around you concerning what you should have considered that you did not, what you should have done that you did not, what errors of judgment you made, and so on.
• After this analysis, decide what you should do now; what action should you take? Then tell your boss about your new plan of action. Explain to him or her why you have moved from the old decision and why it is important for you to make the change. In talking with your boss, do not try to shift the blame.
• You are responsible for the decision and for the error. Prepare for and accept the consequences.

Facts vs. Information

Decisions combine fact and theory. They are the choices we make after considering how we interpret the events we observe. We can consider “facts” as basic ingredients and “information” as a supplementary to the facts.

Basic Ingredients

• Facts
• Knowledge
• Experience
• Analysis
• Judgment

The Supplements

• Information
• Advice
• Experimentation
• Intuition

When we make decisions, we want facts that are indisputable, incontrovertible, and irrefutable. But facts can change. With progress, today’s facts may be out of date tomorrow. (Some examples include the tallest buildings, largest cities, and the Guinness Book of World Records.) In the absence of facts we must fall back on available information, which will have to be filtered since it can also be laced with opinion.

Eight Ingredients for Good Decision-Making

1. Focus on the most important things. Of all the things you are judging, give greater weight to the most important factor.
2. Do not decide until you are ready. Do not act on impulse or succumb to decision panic.
3. Look for the positive results that can come from this decision. Make your decision as if you were afraid of missing a wonderful opportunity.
4. Consider the negative outcomes. If things go wrong, as they sometimes will, what is the worst that can happen? How can you mitigate problems?
5. Look ahead. Try to see the long-term consequences of your decision.
6. Turn big decisions into a series of little decisions. When a big undertaking seems like it could be too much to tackle all at once, take small steps, get more information, reconsider, and then make the next decision.
7. Do not feel you are locked into only one or two alternatives. There are always more options if you look for them. Go look for them.
8. Get what you need to feel safe. For some people, that means knowing the worst that can happen. For others, it means knowing they can back out at the last minute. For still others, it means knowing that everyone they care about agrees with the decision, or fully understands the situation they are in. Identify your safety needs related to the decision at hand.

Decision-Making Traps

We just finished discussing what can substitute for cold, hard facts. In the absence of good data, the people making decisions must fall back on available information, and sometimes that kind of information is heavily influenced by opinion. This is not necessarily a bad thing if the sources are informed opinions. However, as information is being gathered, we must be aware of decision-making traps and avoid as many as possible. Here are 10 traps that you may encounter.

Misdirection

When we go on fishing expeditions (trying to get information without revealing its purpose), we may very well get the right answer to the wrong question. If we ask the experts and they do not know, they may not admit it. Then we can become the victims of a snow job, or find that the blind are leading the blind.

Sampling

There is also danger of making a decision based on a sampling that is too small. You may ask three people about when they want the Christmas party to be held and get every one of them to agree on the same date. But it would be dangerous to go ahead with that date based on such a small sampling if it is not adequate and representative. Perhaps that is also the night of the Kiwanis Christmas party, of which several employees are members, or perhaps it is a Tuesday and many of the employees go bowling that evening.

Bias

We are all guilty of some bias. Every moment we have lived and everything we have ever experienced has in some way contributed to our own biases. These biases will be reflected in our actions and our opinions. Usually it is enough to know that we each have biases and to adjust our thinking accordingly. However, remember that people with a clearly defined bias will be representative of others similarly inclined.

Averages

The ubiquitous “average” can be deceiving. The arithmetical average can be a long way from the figure in the middle, or the median. Averages can also bury extremes: a man can drown in a stream of water that averages two feet deep if he just happens to fall into the one spot in its entire length where it is 50 feet deep. The average time it takes my brother to drive from Boston to New York would be deceptive for the average driver, since my brother often drives at excessive speeds.

Selectivity

Selectivity is another danger signal. When we throw out unfavorable results and embrace unacceptable ones, the results are ambiguous to say the least. We have to demand all the facts, not just those that have been swept under the rug.

We must not correlate the frequent with the normal. If a particular study of the infant population indicates the average age at which a child sits up is six months and your child does not sit up until eight months, that does not necessarily mean that his development is sluggish.

Here is another example: We have been told that cannibalism is frequent among certain populations. However, whether it is “normal” is best left to the anthropologists, whether it is “right” can be left to the theologians, and whether it is “good” will probably depend on whether you are the eater or the eaten.

Interpretation

Do not forget that facts and information are always open to interpretation. Remember the old adage that figures lie and liars figure. We must be careful that someone is not using facts to distort the truth rather than to enlighten. We also have to ensure that we are not finding convenient statistics simply to support our own position. When a person has information, they are obliged to present it as clearly as possible so others will not misunderstand. However, we can never entirely eliminate the danger of misinterpretation.

Here is an example: A man was being interviewed for a management position, and he was asked what he felt made him stand out from other candidates. He responded that he was a “thoughtful” man. The selection committee thought he was referring to his gentlemanly behavior: opening doors for older people, remembering birthdays, and the like.

A few months later he met one of the people who sat on the interview panel and the disappointed candidate asked why had been overlooked. The man told him that “thoughtful” had weighed heavily against him. The man then explained he had meant he gave a great deal of thought to the decisions he was required to make. The misinterpretation cost him a job.

Jumping to Conclusions

This is a trap you set for yourself, and nobody has to spring it for you. Make sure that you are using the skills you have to consider things thoroughly instead of heading for an easy answer.

The Meaningless Difference

“Sell the sizzle, not the steak,” says that when all things are equal (10 neighborhood restaurants sell a decent steak), then it is the atmosphere, the service, the side dishes, and all the extras that make us select one eating establishment over another. Make sure that when you need to make a decision about the steak, you are considering the steak itself and not the sizzle.

Connotation

It is natural to draw out all the meaning in a remark, but our emotional state may determine the connotation. Connotation, emotional content, or implications can all be added to an explicit literal meaning. When we are making good decisions, we need to base them on fact rather than our emotions about something, as difficult as that can be.

Status

Status can limit communication in ways we never intended. This is a barrier between supervisor and employee, committee member and chairperson, and so on. Status can interfere with communication in either direction, with fear of disapproval on one hand or loss of prestige (or job, or position) on the other.