What did we learn from the experts?

It depends.  For every topic that we know is complex, there are between five and a dozen situations in which a making the decision depends: on other work, who’s involved, kinds of funds available, strategic plans, whether accounting systems make it easy or difficult, where accountability lies.

For many of these situations, the list of variables is long.  But they define the way the most experienced folks make good decisions.  Not all of the variates are clear; not all of conclusions are consistent.  Still more interesting, is that there may be an additional, undefined set of variables guiding some high stakes decisions.  Somewhere there is a decision-maker who has reserved the final decision, sometimes because one or more of those variables are constantly changing, for financial or strategic reasons.  By the time everyone learned those decision-making principles, they would have changed.  They cannot be made plain.  For the time being, the way those decisions are made belongs to a few decision-makers.

Our experts also told us that their day-to-day work presents few big challenges.  That is, few challenges that training can touch: workload, additional reporting demands, more variety and complexity in sources of revenue, shorter revenue cycles.  In other words, the business is changing steadily and the pace seems to have picked up.  This is the setting for all those complex decision-making situations.

So as I design the program that experts told me would help address their needs, my team will focus on decision-making.  We will focus on defining situations in which “it depends” applies.  Here’s what good decisions seem to rely on:

• What is the situation?  (Recognizing characteristics; identifying the issues)
• What are my options, from best to worst?  (Recognizing regulation that applies and risks that may result)
• Who is responsible?  (Identify who bears the risk and responsibility; determine how to communicate the situation to elicit quick and prudent action)
• What is the best set of principles I can use in the face of ambiguity to bring prudence, reasonableness, and consistency to the decision
• If an executive decision-maker has the last word in the situation, how can I work with him or her to get that decision made?

What kind of decision-making activities have you used to help experienced people frame mental models for clearer, more consistent decision-making?