101: How to make a tough decision
Managers and executives make dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions on any given day. But what happens when it comes time to make a monumental choice to change the course of how your company operates for years to come?
Gather a variety of viewpoints. The best decision is an informed one, and the best way to make an informed decision is to gather viewpoints from people you know will have good insight. That doesn’t mean you take a poll of the entire office, but the people who have relevant experience should definitely be consulted. “Seeking valuable input is the primary source of healthy, robust debate,” Martin Moore, founder of Your CEO Mentor, wrote in the Harvard Business Review. “It will help you gain a greater understanding of the problem you are trying to solve and come up with smart, effective solutions.”
Recognize the debate environment you currently have. Inside of business meetings, executives tend to only discuss the area they work in on a day-to-day basis. For example, a McKinsey & Co. study mentions a global agricultural company looking to expand to Europe. The leaders from the U.S. business division stayed silent, even though they had experience marketing and cross-selling similar products. There are ways to avoid this. “Consider starting the decision meeting by reminding participants of the overall organizational goals the meeting supports, in order to reframe the subsequent discussions,” McKinsey wrote on its website. “Then assign someone to argue the case for, and against, a potential decision or the various options under consideration.”
Remember who your customer is. At the end of the day, you’re there for your customers. What are their wants, needs, concerns, and values? If you are unsure, learn. If you know what they are, then your decision should be in line with that. “Grounding your beliefs, mission, and purpose to align with your customer is the core of what creates a successful business,” William Merchan, former CFO of Pathmatics, Inc., told Forbes. “This is not a task to be outsourced or assigned to the team. You need to own it.”
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