In my line of work, I encounter numerous individuals who take great satisfaction in their instinctive decision-making. Rather than striving to make the most informed decision possible, they trust their own experience and judgment to drive the organization forward. In my experience, they need to be careful not to drive the business off a cliff or into a dead end. I certainly value personal experience, and some individuals possess a natural ability to make intuitive decisions. However, experience and confidence alone are not enough to consistently grow a company. At some point, you run out of luck.
There is certainly a place for being impulsive and trusting your intuition. We have all experienced situations where we had to make difficult decisions with limited time and information. However, often this pressure is self-inflicted. Fortunately, most of us do not operate in a battlefield where we must rely solely on instinct, training, and experience. I urge you to take the following eight steps before jumping into any major business decision:
- Consult colleagues and peers who have previous experience with the issue or a similar type of issue—look for examples you can learn from
- Solicit feedback from people who will be directly affected by the decision
- Take some time to carefully think through the pros and cons of the decision and then rank the top five in each category
- Consider the worst possible outcome and what you would do should this happen
- Make sure the decision is aligned with your core values as a person, and you truly “believe” it is the right thing to do
- Estimate the time, costs, and skills required to be successful, and then increase this by 15%, and then assess whether you can carry the burden
- Make sure you have the personal capacity to provide the leadership required and a plan to address any potential knowledge or performance gaps
- Have an exit strategy—what would make you pull the plug
I know this all sounds like considerable effort, but it is worth it. Time spent on the front end will save you on the back end. I realize that not every decision is a major issue, and you may skip some of the steps occasionally. On balance, it is usually better to think before you act.
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