The decision to decide

I make decisions quickly. I was trained this way when management promoted me to a senior sales position in charge of handling a group of veteran sales people who were older and more experienced.

When I started in my career, I did not have to bother with making decisions. My bosses made decisions, and all I had to do is to follow them. But having to make decisions later in my managerial role can be perplexing and agonizing at times. One observation I had, however, changed my thinking. That the longer it took me to decide, the less credible I was in the sight of these senior sales people, and indecisiveness led to a loss of respect, and it was awful.

I make many decisions every day. And so one day I decided (pardon the pun) to consult my all-time friend Google and search for quotes on decision-making. To my surprise, there are so many of them. Here are some funny quotes on decision making:

The wife wanted a new mattress, but I wasn’t sure about the decision. I told her I would have to sleep on it.

Remember not to make fun of your wife’s decisions... because you were one of them.

My wife and I decided that in our marriage, I would make all of the big decisions, and she would make all of the little ones. We’ve been married 30 years, and there are no big decisions yet.

Exercise improves your decision making. It is true says another one. This is why I have decided I’m never going again.

Leaders make decisions. Leaders are to be decisive as it is an expectation, but unfortunately, it does not happen all the time. Some managers would take their sweet time to make a decision. Perhaps their egos are satisfied knowing that many people are waiting for his or her decision. Maybe the manager is not capable of making the right decisions and requires a lot of time to mull over it. And God forbid, perhaps by delaying decisions that the manager uses this ploy to extort and extract benefits for the self.

The thing here is those good leaders are aware of the responsibility they bear for those in their teams. They are aware of their mortality and possibility of error; while taking responsibility for those in their teams. Only a foolish or irresponsible person would neglect to agonize and fret over big and important decisions. I understand this very well. But to decide, they must. Experience tells me that when leaders make decisions that are clear and obvious, the implementation stage becomes easy. Even when errors occur; they can make quick adjustments and get things done.

On many occasions, managers are paralyzed with decision-making, and they want to “play it safe.”  They spend too much time on getting a consensus with the team so that in case things go wrong, then the blame would be on the team and not on the leader. And this is not a good thing.

Certain situations call for immediate action and delaying the decision-making process may cause a lot more harm than good. We all need to remember that not making a decision is a decision in itself.

Let’s analyze. Sometimes the culture in certain companies prioritizes fear of error and is huge on punishing those who have made mistakes. This old-school thinking is detrimental to a fast-paced, technology-driven business environment that requires quick execution and endless innovations just to stay in the game. As Mark Zuckerberg’s famous line that has been copied all over the place; “Move Fast and Break Things.” This is not to say that one can be haphazard in making decisions. This means that with available information provided, decisions should be made quickly so that execution can commence.

The next possible reason why decisions are slow in the coming is that the initial step is always the most difficult. Couple this with fear and insistence to have everything perfect, and you end up with delayed decisions. The phrase, “Feel the fear and do it anyway” would be an apt application for situations like these. The moment you begin, the less scary things will be, and it just becomes normal.

I guess we have all been there and felt the pain and the anxiety of awaiting a leader’s decision. But worse than this is that everything pauses, and nothing happen until the black smoke turns white, the waiting stops, and a decision is made which is a total waste of time and resource.

We need to reframe the minds of the leaders from the fear of making decisions to the fear of NOT making decisions, wasting time, and allowing opportunities to pass. As leaders, you are to take responsibility and make decisions. This is not only your moral responsibility this is also what you are paid to do.

(Connect with Francis Kong in www.facebook.com/franciskong2 or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 dzFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.)