Avoid Making Decisions Without Adequate Data and Time

Richard L. Baron
Principal
Responsive Management Solutions

Countless debates on “good” decisions versus “questionable” decisions by leaders in the business, nonprofit, and public sectors take place each day. In many cases, these debates are the result of improper “decision speed.” In fact, speedy decisions with inadequate vetting have probably resulted in many questionable, and even poor, decisions.

With leaders being faced with a constant barrage of problems, questions, demands, emergencies, complaints, accusations, and suggestions, there are occasions when the circumstances are emergent or crisis-driven and an immediate response is needed. But, more often than not, leaders have time to digest an issue over time. Yet, all too often they react and seemingly “solve” an issue by responding immediately—and this is where they run into trouble.

First, research backs up beliefs on how decisions are made. Research indicates that decisions in our technical specialty (i.e. finance, clinical services, executive administration, instruction, medical services, development, and facilities) are determined and implemented approximately 97 percent of the time based on a single conversation. Of that 97 percent, 80 percent of the decisions are based on adequate data and result in effective outcomes, while 14 percent are based on inadequate data and result in ineffective or unpredicted outcomes.

If the issue calling for a decision or course of action is in the area of interpersonal relations (staff conflict, unfair distributions of work, playing favorites, “isms,” or so-called “personality differences”) decisions are similarly determined and implemented 97 percent of the time based on a
single conversation.

However, unlike technical decisions, only 17 percent of these decisions are formulated with adequate data and result in effective outcomes. Eighty percent of the decisions are based on inadequate data resulting in ineffective outcomes.

This data clearly suggests that a decision or a course of action determined and implemented in the area of interpersonal relations is too often based on inadequate data; resulting in a decision and courses of action the leader will most likely have to re-visit, reassess, and re-formulate within 72 hours.

The remainder of this column reviews seven main contributing conditions in an organization which might lead to a decision practice based on inadequate data. It also includes suggestions for ways a leader can strengthen conditions for making good decisions. It also includes a graph, Attempting to Solve Performance Problems – Technical Performance.

Conditions for Bad Decisions

Why would a leader make a decision based on inadequate data? What conditions in an organization might contribute to a decision-practice based on inadequate data?

Contributing conditions might be one or more of the following:

1. Work Overload. Not wanting to “add another issue to the stack” of crushing work, a leader sometimes rushes ahead to make a decision.
    
2. Collaboration Management Development. Leaders are sometimes told that collaboration is always to be valued even in the face of inadequate data and technical incompetence. Thus, the collaborative leader invites persons into drafting decision possibilities too soon.
    
3. “Brass Monkey” Management Development. This suggests effective leaders never allow an individual to drop-off a problem or concern; the person presenting a problem must also take the problem with them as they leave.
    
4. Practice Effect. By practicing early solution/decision making in the technical area of expertise—which is effective 80 percent of the time—the leader does not discriminate between technical and interpersonal discussions and does not shift to a more protracted decision pace.
    
5. New-Leader Fear. Wanting to appear credible and decisive, the new leader rushes to a decision or course of action that has a high probability of failing, or has to be reversed or reformatted, and in effect, reduces their credibility.
    
6. Aggressive Messenger. All leaders experience, at one time or another, messengers that can be aggressive, hostile, and/or disrespectful. The leader, wanting to limit interaction time, sometimes rushes to a decision.
    
7. Teaching Staff Last-Minute Problem Drop-Off. An open-door policy has great organizational and personal value. However, the leader may be subtly teaching staff to hold onto their problems until the last minute, not allowing for sufficient discussion, data collection, and reflection, and forcing a rush to a decision.

Strengthening Good Decision Making Conditions

What can a leader do to strengthen conditions that inhibit good “speedy decisions?” There are several suggestions:

1. Secure a clear and specific operational definition of the perceived problem in the initial conversation. It is critically important to identify who is doing what, or who is not doing what, that is believed to be (or contributing to) the problem.
    
2. Build into the organizational culture the option for leaders to not solve a problem, make a decision, or determine a final course of action in a single conversation.
    
3. Allow at least 10 minutes outside of the original conversation to reflect, talk to others, validate information, and consider options.
    
4. Teach staff to allocate sufficient post-problem presentation time when requesting decision assistance to allow for reflection, additional data gathering, or discussion with others.
    
5. Model effective critical thinking and decision making skills.

Of course, all good leaders would like to prevent organizational problems. But problems do occur, decisions are necessary, and courses of action need to be determined. When faced with the contributing conditions outlined earlier, the effective leader remembers the only good reason to make a decision now is if the correct data is available.

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