The Challenge of Decision Making faces your company, individual departments, staff, customers, vendors and more. Every day, decisions need to be made so that you can:

– Achieve success in this difficult economy
– Grow a company
– Improve customer service and customer relationships

Whether the choice is simple or complex, deciding has to be accomplished. Not making a choice is a choice. There are many methods that we have learned to select a choice, make a decision and move on. Here are a few:

• Random – the coin flip, the ‘she loves me, she loves me not’, whatever first pops into your process. Random works for simple choice – restaurant menu, TV program, stop at next gas station when fuel tank is near empty. For complex choice, random is rarely effective.
• Research – How much time does one spend on research can be based on how much data needs to be collected. You will never gather all the information about any one choice process. You can do a shallow analysis by seeking headlines and basic facts. You can do deep analysis by locating many sources and view content, images, facts and opinions. My view is to do what it takes to be comfortable with your choice. Deciding where to go on vacation is not as complicated as deciding to take your company public.
• SALY – The long followed ‘Same as Last Year’ only works when the circumstances are precisely the same. If you enjoyed a vacation spot, you can return. Taking a company public will not be repeated quickly.
• Lightning Strikes – Ben Franklin’s key and kite discovery can provide some immediate ‘AHA’ moments of inspiration. These moments can be helped if you gather usable information and see how they are connected. Your ‘AHA’ can leap from the content on your desk, whiteboard or computer.
• It’s a Mystery – Sometimes choices are made an no one knows how they actually were done. You can spend days trying to figure it out or move on to what is next on your agenda.
• Someone Else – try to avoid having other people make decisions for you. Making choices with another or with a team can work great. Avoid having someone else choose because you made the choice not to be an active participant in the process.

Your goal is to make choices within the timeframe that they need to be done. Try to avoid missing the opportunity to make a choice. We all get better with practice. Therefore, when it is time to make a choice – Do It. When your decision process is upon you, there are lots of ways we can support both the decision and the implementation. Contact us.