Four strategies for deciding how to decide (plus two more tips)

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Decision making is hard. Decision making in large organizations is even harder.

Have you ever tried to lead a large change but struggled to get consensus from the group?

Or have you ever been in a meeting where you've debated an idea for what feels like the hundredth time but still haven't reached a decision?

Or have you ever been asked to provide input on a decision, only to be overruled, and then wondered why you were asked in the first place?

All of these frustrating scenarios are the result of one of two things:

Utilizing ineffective decision-making models, or
Failing to properly communicate the decision-making model being used.

Four decision-making models

So, how do we make decisions more effectively?

The book Crucial Conversations offers some excellent advice on decision-making models and outlines four possible strategies:

Command. Decisions are made without involving others.
Consult. Input is gathered from the group and then a subset decides.
Vote. An agreed-upon percentage swings the decision.
Consensus. Everyone comes to an agreement and then supports the final decision.

For large projects where everyone seems to have an opinion, the ideal model is usually Consult, where input is welcome, but someone needs to make the final call. To make this model work, people need to know that this is the decision-making model being used and know who the final decision maker is.

Where we get into trouble is if people think that this is a Vote or Consensus situation. In the instance of a big initiative that involves dozens of stakeholders, it's a bit of a fool's errand to try to achieve actual consensus and make everyone happy or try to implement every person's feedback.

Hard decisions vs. important decisions

Even after choosing a decision-making model and communicating that choice to everyone involved, it's easy to confuse a hard decision with an important decision.

Choosing what to eat for breakfast can be hard, but it's probably not important. Learning that not every hard decision is also an important decision can greatly relieve your anxiety or analysis paralysis and allow you to just pick something, knowing that your choice probably wasn't that important.

Reversible vs. irreversible decisions

Lastly, consider how easy or difficult it will be to change direction after deciding. If the work can easily be undone or changed (a reversible decision), then move forward quickly with what you think the best choice is. No need to overthink things if a wrong choice can be easily corrected.

Irreversible decisions, those that can't be changed (or at least can't be easily changed) should require more thought. Once an irreversible decision is made, it'll be harder to change course in the future.