Mister Claessens, managers and leaders are constantly required to make decisions. Is it possible to lower the number of bad decisions?

“Thinking about decision making is not a waste of time when one does consider that, according to some authors, 45 to 50 percent of all our decisions are wrong. So if you have the impression that you have made a wrong decision, at a point in time, do not worry! You are not the only one. Having said that, not all wrong decisions bear unwanted or disastrous consequences! Being wrong is part of risk taking and will lead to failure. Failure should be more readily accepted as it usually is the start of an improvement, not just of the decision making process.

Do methods exist to enable decisions? Like many methods are those not too theoretical?

“We are not talking here about typical engineering decisions where, as we all know, we have been able to develop reliable methodologies. For normal day to day business or private decisions, we have tools at our disposal that most of us use or at least know, such as lean thinking, the seven stages of the decision making process, or the three R’s (reflect, respond, revise). Most of them are applicable and practical but lead to the same point, i.e., when people believe a conclusion is true, they are also very likely to believe the arguments that appear to support it, even when these arguments are unsound or data are of poor quality, or plainly wrong. When we are tired or frustrated we often make statements rather than asking questions. By the same token, we make rash decisions rather than think about them. The answer is to be aware of whom we are and to take care of whom we are, mentally and physically. Being able to see the big picture in a relaxed and structured manner is the issue. It is a mental discipline. It is a way to lead our business and private life rather than life leading us. Is this theoretical?

Decisions are often seen as an individual process. Preferably should they not be more “collaborative”, making the manager a kind of “referee”?

“There is a house on fire. The officer in charge ‘feels’ that something is unusual about that particular fire: extreme heat, no indication where it started. He calls upon his team to leave the house and save their lives. He acts upon pure intuition. He can do so because he has seen many houses burning, because he has often been exposed to that situation, because he perfectly knows that environment.

The second example comes from the States. Joe Biden, commenting upon the decision of going after Osama Bin Laden. ‘The president goes to each member of the security committee and says: what do you recommend? The answers differ… well mister president, there is 50 percent chance of this and so much of that…’ Ultimately the president, after careful listening to all the arguments, makes his decision known, based on his intuition but after an in depth analysis of all likely consequences!’ Fortunately few of us have to make life threatening decisions but what we can learn from those two examples is that at times we have to act as a referee, or as a leader, but at times we are alone, totally alone, and have to jump in the deep blue water. Most of us work in team, in corporations or in SMEs, seldom alone. Consequently listen, listen, listen… And do not be afraid to make a wrong decision!”