How do you define success for your decisions?

Align your team around the "success criteria". Most decisions fail because of a lack of alignment on the "success criteria". Achieve it by working with your team on defining the decision criteria. For example, you may decide on an organizational change. What are the decision criteria to evaluate the alternatives? Ex. team goal alignment, cost reduction, team atmosphere, revenue acceleration... Categorize the criteria as "must" and "nice to have". Also, categorize them as short-term and long-term. Then prioritize them. Once you have prioritized the decision-making criteria, your team will have a common understanding of the goals. They will be better prepared to evaluate alternatives and make better decisions.

Remember that goals can be and often are a spectrum. If you want to sell 500 units, that could be broken out as follows: The goal is to sell 500. The stretch goal if I sell 500 earlier than expected is 600. If I sell 400, I still make a profit, and based on the current market, that would still be more than the average expectation for my business at this time. Your business doesn't happen in a vacuum, and there are so many factors both in and out of your control that can impact the path you take to success. It's important to keep a larger perspective in mind.

Measure, measure, measure! Every core decision deserves effective measurement, and the failure to do so simply devalues the intent. Too often, I have witnessed huge amounts of management time spent on agreeing a path, a decision...but then post activation, interest is lost and measurement forgotten. Meaning an almost impossible task to know the impact and the benefit the original decision made, and what further amends, tweaks, changes are required for future improvement.

Evaluating the process of the decision is more important than the outcome as the outcome can be affected by many external circumstances whereas your decision should be the best decision based on the information you had at the time. You can make a bad decision yet still fluke a good result and on the other hand make a good decision that unfortunately did not turn out well. So evaluate the process that led to the decision to see if there are any improvements to make ahead of the next one (e.g. new knowledge, seeking others views etc).

I agree, most of what will define if your decision will be successful happens before even making it. One important point that wasn’t mentioned though, was before you can know if a decision was successful, you must first define what success means to you. Once you know what success means to you, you can evaluate the options and see how they align within that definition as well as your values.

Whether it’s rolling out a new product or managing an Employee Resource Group, the ultimate goal should be providing the end-user with whatever it is they need or want. One of the most detrimental things a decision-maker can do is make a decision based on what they THINK should be delivered, versus what the end-user actually NEEDS or WANTS to be delivered.

One way to include an equity lens in your work outcomes is to measure how people feel about the results, especially those with marginalized identities. If people who are farther away from the cultural norms feel like the solution or change is good, that can be an indicator that you're on track for equity and inclusion. Although this is often overlooked when strategizing, it can actually lead to more success, productivity, and profitability in the long run.

Self-awareness is a critical component of career navigation, and the lack of self-awareness is often a career killer. Unfortunately, many leaders have built a culture of "proud and perfect," creating a perception that asking for support or feedback is a sign of weakness. However, it is just the opposite. Fake it 'til you make it only goes so far; being able to ask for help and share vulnerabilities makes you human – and you work with humans. When wanting to move your career forward, you need to manage the delta between your perception and the perception that leadership has on your skills, abilities, and impact on the organization. Crafting a healthy feedback loop not only opens doors for your career but advances organizational success.

Seeking feedback before making the final decision is crucial especially if it will affect others in the team or organization. Doing this allows us to have a wider vision and understanding of how the decision will affect others and will also help to get the buy-in needed for a successful outcome. Clear and frequent communication after the decision is made is equally important to maintain engagement, collaboration and it provides an avenue for making changes and adapting if necessary.

A counterintuitive point of view is to not consider your failures as such, but as learning experiences during your journey. Each moment you don't hit your goal is a chance to learn what went well and how to improve. There are no failures, only learning opportunities.

Success can be very subjective, particularly when it comes to decision-making. Success can be found in speed of new decisions vs previous ones, quality of immediate outcomes those decisions yield, impact on the long term. Sometimes, though, success in decision making can also mean learning from previous decisions and doing (or trying to do) better next time. Example - if your past decisions did not involve the right people and new decisions you make involve a wider group of people/stakeholders for greater input, that itself may be seen as successful decision making.