A short course in decision-making

By Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey

How do you turn around a company with a $285 million loss in fiscal 1997, to be able to post  $89 million in profits for the 1st 6 months of 1998?  What an amazing story, and a great lesson for all of us!

The solution: focusing, teaching and applying the basics of business in making, and then implementing decisions.  Creative timesaving decisions that tackled real problems that were strangling Bay Networks and their staff of 6000.  I read an article in Fast Company awhile back that profiled David House and I wanted to share his views and actions that produced this staggering result. When you are engaging in creativity whether to solve perplexing complex problems or in setting goals your ability to arrive and implement decisions are critical.

Let's review some of the fundamentals of business as discussed by new CEO David House, of Canadian Telecommunications giant Nortel, who personally led the change in attitudes and timesaving decision making procedures.   

"People are hungry for ideas and direction. There are no winners on a losing team and no losers on a winning team."  Says David House. "Our decisions aren't perfect. But, it wasn't important to get things perfect. It was important to get things done."

And get things done he did!  House was able to free up resources and personnel by cutting thru the red tape and bureaucracy that 'had' bogged down and overloaded the engineering focus on new products - far too many to support, produce or ship.  This in itself made big changes in the focus and function of the company.

David House sought to create an 'instant' culture to help focus on the fundamentals of business.  "How do you make decisions? How do you disagree openly? And How do you focus on what's important?"  David defined culture as, " what people fall back on when there are no instructions. It gives you rules for when there are no rules, and provides a common language for moving forward."

To do that, David personally created and taught 4 programs to teach the principles and practices he'd learned over the past 22 years at Intel.  His courses focused on helping his staff set priorities, allocate resources, make decisions, and get things done. He personally taught Bay Network's management team; and they were challenged to personally pass on this information by teaching the programs to their 6000 staff.  Their dramatic results reflected his wise decision to focus on the basics of business. 

His "Decision Making" course focused on making good decisions - that were informed, timely, aligned with the company’s policies and goals, and scaled to fit the scope and resources of the company.  Do you find yourself bogged down in the decision process when you should be moving into the action process?

His 'Straight Talk" program provided a direct, timely way to resolve conflict. This could be critical to your ability to get things done by working effectively with your teammates and management.

He also developed a program on "Managing for Results" and another on "Effective Meetings".  I'd think, based on my past experience, both of these would prove invaluable to any team or company wanting to productively use their time or service their clientele.

In this piece, I'd like to focus on David's take on "Decision Making" for your consideration.

•	"Wait until the last minute - but not a minute later"

David feels the best decisions are the just-in-time decisions that factor in changing situations and market shifts.  But, please don't use this model as an excuse to make decisions or procrastinate.  Keep doing your homework, and keep your research and materials current.

 He suggests making the decision as late as possible - but make it in time before you have to take action.  A fine line between success and missing the wave.

•	"Don't be afraid to argue"

"As long as conflict is resolved quickly," says David; "It's good for an organization." Real leaders deal with conflict head on, taking individual feeling seriously, but moving on past those individual feelings.  David suggests one way to effectively move through this process is to agree on "What the question is?"  

Agree on the wording and make sure it's recorded in writing so everyone can refer to it during the process. Unproductive disagreements often revolve around divergent ideas or misunderstandings on "what is" actually being decided.

•	"Make the RIGHT decision, not the best decision"

"People can spend months debating the 'best' decision," shares David, "without actually arriving at 'any' decision." Each time you make a decision, you take a risk.  But risk is a fundamental part of progress and business survival. Life is too short.  In every problem or path chosen, 8 out of 10 decisions will work to some degree.  Choose one and get going.   Adjust it as you go!

•	"Disagree - and then commit."

David teaches, "Not everyone gets a chance to decide, but everyone should have a chance to be heard."  He says the most vigorous debates often yield the most productive, creative thinking.  He goes further to state he feels, "fully supporting decisions that have been properly made is a condition of employment."  

A firm stand, and one that bears serious consideration on both parts of the equation: the consultative, creative process of making the decision; and the action process of implementing it by the team.

These lessons, from the creative brain of David House, can have an impact on the way we live and do business:

•	In how we value and effectively use our time personally and professionally.  

Being able to productively focus on the question at hand, and move into deciding and implementing a plan of action might spell the difference between success and failure. It might also result in freedom to fully use our time, and in creating time to spend with the important people in our life.

•	In how we service our clientele and continue to position ourselves to meet and exceed their changing needs in an increasingly global market.

Being able to make the decisions that affect how we do business; and what we offer to our current and prospective clients is the touchstone of business survival and growth. Even more so, as we explore this new millennium.

•	 In how we view and tackle the problems and challenges in our lives and businesses.  

In business and life, we face challenges and confront problems and obstacles requiring choices and actions based on those choices.  Being able to cut through the "analysis paralysis," could be just the secret to a fulfilled life and a productive business career.

Lessons like these from David House, who faced challenges I hope you never face, can be very effective if properly anchored and applied. I would challenge you to digest this information, and see where it applies to you, your clients, and your company personally.

Copyright 1998-2002 Bob “Idea Man” Hooey is an accredited professional speaker, trainer, facilitator and business coach.  His free, online ‘zine, Ideas@work can be subscribed to by visiting his site at: http://www.ideaman.net.  His articles have appeared in local and North American trade journals and consumer publications.  He is the author of 6 books (including Secrets of EFFECTIVE Customer Service, Prepare Yourself to WIN!)