Decision-making is an integral part of our lives. We make thousands of tiny decisions each day, and while most of them are inconsequential – like which tie to wear to work, or which croissant to have for breakfast – others have a huge impact on businesses and the people who work within them. We don’t tend to dwell very long on our options when making the small choices, of course. This is natural: if we had to pause and weigh the pros and cons of every single choice we made, we would never get anything done.
But it’s important to ensure you’re asking the right questions before we make those big decisions. Consider:
• What is the worst case scenario if we make the wrong decision? Would the outcome be insurmountable?
• If someone else had to make this decision, what advice would we give them?
• Is our decision unbiased? Are the recommendations we’ve been receiving unbiased?
• Do we have all the information we need to make a sound decision?
The process, however, doesn’t end there. Sometimes, several months down the line, it’s prudent to reflect on whether our initial decisions are actually producing results. It’s important to take a step back and re-assess the consequences of our decisions. Have our choices brought about the best possible results, or simply the most passable results?
Here are some questions we should ask ourselves when we get to that point:
• Is what we’ve been doing actually working?
• What has changed in the past few months that might require us to change our decision?
• Are we still the appropriate people to be making this decision?
• What else can we do to get better results?
• Has any new information come to light that might change our decision?
Have you ever made a decision that has needed revisiting? How did you handle it? Let us know in the comments.
