How to Improve Your Decision Making Today
Skip the article and get your free Integrative Decision Making pdf by emailing rory@thewayswework.com, subject line “Free IDM resource please”.
We’ve all been in that meeting. The meeting where the manager, HIPPO (highest paid person in the room), team lead, or other people in positions of power propose an idea. It goes something like this:
HIPPO: “I think that we should do X because of Y. The outcome will be Z!”
Team Leader: “I think that’s a great idea, we should do that!”
HIPPO: “If everyone is aligned, we’ll move forward with that plan. Sound good?”
Team: “…”
The HIPPO holds a thumb up in the air and nods to the team indicating that they should agree. Everyone in the room awkwardly nods their heads in agreement, the decision is made for better or worse.
WHY THIS IS PROBLEMATIC
The goal of decision making is to make the best decision possible with the information on hand. However, in the meeting outlined above, there’s no way to know if the decision was made with the best information available. And that’s a problem.
When someone in a position of power or authority makes a proposal, there is an unseen power dynamic in play that’s actively impacting the decision making process. There’s a pressure to conform and there is pressure to not ask clarifying questions or react. Without creating space and inviting each person to participate, you risk killing inclusion and missing out on the opportunity to harness the collective brilliance and experiences of your team.
Last time I checked, a team has a better chance of making the best possible decision than a leader alone.
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
Next time a decision needs making on your team, try leveraging the consent-based decision making process made popular by Holacracy, Integrative Decision Making (IDM). IDM will give you the opportunity to make the best decision you can with the information available.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
If you’re regularly using IDM as a team, over time you can expect:
Increased feelings of inclusion, collaboration, and belonging because everyone on your team is invited to participate in the decision making process.
An increased sense of purpose and meaning, and connection to the work because your team is co-creating a path forward.
Increased innovation because your team will be actively experimenting which leads to innovation.
Executing the Integrative Decision Making Process
STEP 1: Make a proposal
With one person facilitating the process and without crosstalk (where people cut in and offer their thoughts, observations, opinions, etc.), a proposal is made:
Because of [insert data], I propose we do [insert proposal]. My hypothesis is that the result will be [insert hypothesis]. I propose that we do the experiment for [insert length of time] length of time.
What usually happens here is that people will jump in and tell you why the proposal won’t work, that the idea is stupid, or that they’ve tried it before. Humans naturally look for reasons to shoot ideas full of holes like swiss cheese. That’s why IDM utilizes facilitated rounds to process a proposal.
STEP 2: Process the proposal in rounds
Round 1: Ask clarifying questions. The facilitator goes around the group one person at a time and asks for clarifying questions to better understand the proposal while withholding judgment. The proposer answers questions. This is not a round for reactions. Respect the process!
Round 2: Share reactions. The facilitator goes around the group one at a time and asks for reactions to the proposal. You hate it, you love it, you’re indifferent. This is the place to share your thoughts and provide insights that might help improve or clarify the proposal.
Round 3: Make amendments. Now that everyone has asked questions and shared reactions, the proposer has the opportunity to amend and improve the proposal. The team will likely have provided valuable insights that need to be considered. If amendments are made, you may want to run through Rounds 1 and 2 again.
Round 4: The facilitator goes around the room and asks each person if the proposal (experiment) is safe-to-try. How you define safe-to-try is up to you, but for starters, try:
1) It’s not illegal
2) it won’t cost an unreasonable sum of money
3) If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to how you were doing it before.
The term safe-to-try allows someone to consent to an experiment even if they don’t think the experiment will be successful. This is really important because I’ve personally consented to multiple experiments that I didn’t think would work but they were safe-to-try. Many of them ended up being wildly successful!
STEP 3: Run the experiment
STEP 4: Reflect on the experiment
Did the experiment solve for what the proposer thought it would?
If it didn’t, what did you learn that can help inform the next experiment?
If the experiment was successful, then integrate it into your ways of working and you’re done!
Happy experimenting!
Get your free Integrative Decision Making pdf by emailing rory@thewayswework.com, subject line “Free IDM resource please”.
