Understand why decision making is the discipline for high performance

1.
Decision
Making
Is
the
foundation
of
Performance
CEO
POV
Poor Decisions Destroy A Company’s Ability to Drive
Performance
Five Steps to Ensure your Organization Improves its Decision Making
CEO
POINT
OF
VIEW
QUARTERLY
q3
Thinking
Dimensions
Global
Insights
and
Actions
for
Executives
CEO
P.O.V.

2.
Decision
Making
Is
the
foundation
of
Performance
CEO
POV
POOR
DECISIONS
DESTROY
A
COMPANY’S
ABLITY
TO
DRIVE
PERFORMANCE:
F I V E
S T E P S
T O
E N S U R E
Y O U R
O R G A N I Z A T I O N
I M P R O V E S
I T S
D E C I S I O N
M A K I N G
POV
of
article:
CEO’s
and
Senior
Leadership
must
remove
the
barriers
that
lead
to
poor
decisions
and
invest
in
decision
making
as
a
fundamental
management
competency
that
drives
strategic
value
and
sustainability.
Every
day,
in
every
country,
in
every
company,
people
go
to
work
to
do
their
part
in
the
procurement
of
goods
and
services
for
customers.
The
common
activity
that
fuels
business
progress
and
each
of
these
people’s
performance
is
decision
making.
Decisions
exist
in
all
shapes
and
sizes
-­‐
strategic,
operational,
customer-­‐related,
deadline
driven,
IT
based,
globally
complex,
financially
large
or
small.
Whatever
the
circumstance,
they
all
share
the
same
starting
point
–
a
choice
needs
to
be
made
because
something
has
changed
or
needs
to
change.
Whether
employees
are
aware
of
their
decision
making
process
or
are
not
conscious
of
the
thinking
patterns
they
use
will
always
be
up
for
discussion
–
however,
what
isn’t
debatable
is
that
higher
quality
decisions
drive
better
performance
in
organizations.
Experience
has
shown
there
are
5
main
causes
of
inferior
decision
making:
1. Poor
quality
data
or
waiting
for
the
perfect
data
to
exist
2. No
common
decision
making
process
or
set
of
steps
3. Not
making
the
thinking
behind
decisions
visible
to
the
people
involved
4. Inability
to
sort
relevant
from
irrelevant
data
5. Explicit
or
implicit
bias
to
the
data
itself
or
process
being
used
I.
Barriers
that
Lead
to
Inferior
Decision
Making
Barriers
to
Effective
Decision
Making
1.
Data
quality
2.
No
common
process
3.
No
visibility
4.
Inability
to
sort
relevant
from
irrelevant
data
5.
Bias

3.
Decision
Making
Is
the
foundation
of
Performance
White
Paper
Thinking
Dimensions
Global
www.thinkingdimensionsglobal.com
Page
|
3
Thinking
Dimensions
defines
decision
making
as
a
series
actions
implemented
over
time
that
best
satisfy
the
issue
to
be
resolved.
The
four
steps
that
every
decision
maker
works
through
–
in
a
rational,
intuitive
or
creative
fashion
(mostly
some
combination)–
are
the
same.
1. Identify
and
State
the
Issue
to
be
Decided
2. Outline
Criteria
that
a
Solution
can
be
Evaluated
Against
3. Generate
and
Test
Solutions
4. Select
the
Solution
and
Implement
Actions.
These
steps
–
powered
by
questions
that
tell
you
the
data
that
is
required
to
resolve
the
situation.
This
road
map
of
questions
comes
in
four
variations
which
address
the
four
types
issues
that
all
situation
s
can
be
deconstructed
into
• PAST-­‐
Root
Cause
Analysis
–WHY?
• PRESENT-­‐
Decision
Analysis
-­‐
WHAT
NOW?
• PRESENT
–
Situation
Appraisal
–
What
First?
• FUTURE-­‐
Risk
Analysis
–
What
IF.
To
understand
that
the
resolution
of
any
problem
or
issue
can
be
done
using
these
four
patterns
and
corresponding
tools
empowers
the
user
to
resolve
the
situation
more
effectively
(i.e.
time,
money,
effort),
involve
the
right
people
and
ultimately
be
more
productive.
The$Four$Thinking$Pa/erns$Based$on$Decision$Making$
Past$ Present$ Future$
Standard''
Devia,on'
1.'Appraise'/'Clarify''
2.'Root'Cause' 3.Choice' 4.'Risk'
Decision'Making'is'the'founda,on'of'Performance'
Note'–'Companies'must'get'into'the'prac,ce'of'searching'for'cause'in'both'posi,ve'and'
nega,ve'devia,ons.'The'illustra,on'above'depicts'only'the'nega,ve'devia,on'scenario'
why?' What'first?'
What'
'now?'
What'if?'
II.
Decision
Making
Defined
and
Four
Variations
Described
The
basic
thinking
pattern
of
decision-­‐
making
spawns
four
variations
that
allow
managers
to
more
effectively
resolve
issues
WHY
WHAT
NOW
WHAT
FIRST
WHAT
IF

4.
Decision
Making
Is
the
foundation
of
Performance
White
Paper
Thinking
Dimensions
Global
www.thinkingdimensionsglobal.com
Page
|
4
Power
lies
with
executives
who
recognize
this
truism
and
can
engage
and
align
their
organization
with
better
decision-­‐making
practices.
Developing
decision
making
competencies
is
simple,
effective
and
smartly
leverages
the
basic
reason
why
people
are
hired
in
the
first
place
–
to
drive
performance
and
contribute
with
the
skill
sets,
experience
and
judgment
for
whichever
level
they
work
at.
The
solutions
to
resolve
the
barriers
to
effective
decision-­‐making
are
straightforward
but
require
consistency
in
expectations
and
effort
set
by
senior
leaders.
1. Acknowledge
that
Decision
Making
is
the
foundation
of
performance
–
and
its
something
to
invest
in.
2. Select
a
common
process
for
your
organization,
region,
department
or
whatever
area
you
have
control
over.
3. Employ
a
common
decision
making
process
that
is
question-­‐
driven
as
it
will
sort
relevant
from
irrelevant
data
faster.
4. Make
people
make
the
process
visible
–
on
a
whiteboard,
napkin,
flipchart
or
piece
of
paper
–
it
expose
biases,
data
gaps
and
forces
you
to
examine
the
real
intent
of
the
issue.
5. Instill
that
engaging
the
right
people,
with
the
right
data
will
solve
the
issue
every
time
and
the
benefits
of
speed,
quality,
collaboration
and
performance
will
be
the
result
as
people
are
aligned
to
the
same
process.
As
organization’s
compete
in
a
global
arena,
where
speed,
flexibility
and
relentless
business
pressures
exist
–
the
most
effective
organizations
excel
at
decision
making
and
those
who
are
under
performing
must
be
reminded
of
the
basics
–
a
return
to
building
and
developing
decision
making
as
a
critical
competency.
Decision-­‐making
is
the
foundation
of
performance
and
will
continue
to
be
the
differentiator
in
top
performing
organizations.
III.
Five
Steps
to
Improve
Decision
Making
in
Your
Organization
5
Steps
to
Improve
Decision
Making
1.
Emphasize
Decision
Making
is
Foundational
to
performance
2.
Select
a
common
process
3.
The
Process
Must
be
Question
Driven
4.
Make
Thinking
Visible
5.
Involve
the
right
people

5.
Decision
Making
Is
the
foundation
of
Performance
White
Paper
Thinking
Dimensions
Global
www.thinkingdimensionsglobal.com
Page
|
5
This
article
was
authored
by
Tim
Lewko,
Managing
Partner
of
the
Global
Strategy
Practice
and
Executive
Director
of
Thinking
Dimensions.
Thinking
Dimensions
is
a
global
consultancy
that
assists
clients
in
resolving
strategic
and
operational
issues.
We
bring
proven
decision
making
methodologies
to
assist
clients
battling
growth,
cost,
and
security
challenges.
Our
process-­‐
driven
KEPNERandFOURIE™
thinking
technologies
guide
the
development
of
effective
corporate
strategies,
operational
improvements,
and
Information
Technology
Root
Cause
Analysis
(ITRCA)
solutions.
All
of
our
client
solutions
recognize
decision-­‐making
is
the
foundation
of
performance.
Thinking
Dimensions
is
led
by
Drs.
Charles
Kepner
and
Mat-­‐thys
Fourie
who
have
over
60
years
of
combined
thought
leadership
in
decision
making
and
process
consulting.
Today,
Thinking
Dimensions
Partners
and
Associates
in
over
20
countries
throughout
the
ASIA-­‐PACIFIC,
EMEA
and
AMERICAS
regions
deliver
expedited
results
on
pressing
business
issues.