A little while back, a fellow leader shared that we she loved about our team is, “We make decisions and take action!” I felt an instant pang of guilt.
I had been working with a different team that had a significant decision to make. And, I was supporting not deciding. Was I blowing it?
As I mulled the comment over, I did not think we were blowing it. Rather we were taking to to uncover some critical information to guide the final decision making. We had decided to search and explore, not act. This team had been using a business tool to lead the exploration effort. That tool turned up a critical gap in a our ability to execute to win. An opportunity emerged to fill that gap. The gap filler wasn’t without issues and concerns. Additional exploration was the right path to understand those critical elements, prior to a final decision.
We had not failed to make a decision. We had decided and taken action to get us to a final decision. It’s always too easy to delay a decision while “waiting for more information.” It makes sense to delay a decision when a path to the needed information can be mapped out and executed expeditiously.
There are great business tools that can help with that discovery, discussion and decision making.
Use them! Have the discussion!
