The art of improved decision-making explained
Anders Liu-Lindberg
Leading advisor to senior Finance and FP&A leaders on creating impact through business partnering | Interim | VP Finance | Business Finance
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In this series we've been looking at decision-making: why we make the decisions we do; why we make the mistakes we make; and how we can all do it better.
I hope it's become clear that while there is certainly an element of the artistic in decision-making, it is also a hard science - a learnable skill that can be honed and improved. In this final article in the series, I'm going to break that skill down into its constituent parts, giving you a framework for your own practice.
Remember the process
Every good decision follows a simple but strict process.
Remember that decisions are not always "yes" or "no" and that there may well be a range of potential courses of action, all of which should be appropriately analyzed.
Document your work
Decisions and actions need to be based on proper analysis and consideration, and this should be recorded and codified. It's important that you are able to demonstrate why you made a decision and on what basis.
This practice is important not necessarily (or only) for the purposes of accountability, but more importantly for the purposes of continuous improvement. There is no 'end' to decision-making; each decision is part of a larger wave of decisions, which is part of a larger wave still, increasingly concurrently forever. That is business! As a result, it's vital that we learn from our decisions, and that we take time to identify what worked and what didn't.
Making and implementing better decisions is the most important thing any business can prioritize.
Involve yourself at every stage
As business partners, we are uniquely positioned in the decision-making process. While other stakeholders may be involved only in the decision itself, we must also play our part in ensuring that the accompanying action is taken. So many businesses spend so much time making decisions that are never actually enacted. Business partners must work to tackle this.
As cross-functional, interdisciplinary workers, we should also make sure that we are working to facilitate better decisions throughout our organizations. Business partners are used to working with stakeholders across the entire gamut of specialisms, and they can all be supported in making better decisions.
In order to do that, we need to focus on replicable frameworks and teachable skills - exactly like the ones we've looked at here. This is the heart of business partnering and the essence of the value that we bring to our organizations.
Do this now!
And before you go, consider the last few questions on decision-making. How are you developing your own decision-making and decision-facilitating skills? What are you doing to document your development in this area? And how are you using decision-facilitating frameworks to add value to your organization?
Let me know in the comments!
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This was the fifth and final article in my latest series "The ultimate guide to decision-making for Finance professionals". You can read the previous article(s) in the series below.
You can read all articles in my latest series "The Mindset For The Future of Finance" below.
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If you want to learn more about one of the key roles of the future "finance business partner" you can check out my recent series "The personality of a business partner" below.
If you want to become a better business partner, consider?taking our online course "Business Partnering Explained - Value Creation Unlocked" to get a better handle on the role. It's accredited for 5.5 CPD hours.
You can read a lot more articles about FP&A, Business Partnering, and Finance Transformation below. It all start's with “Introducing The Finance Transformation Nine Box”?where you set the ambition for your transformation. You should join the?Finance Business Partner Forum,?which is part of the Business Partnering Institute's online community.
All Successful Business Partners Are "Leaders"?(the last article in the series about our new capability model)
Should We Keep Talking About Business Partnering??(part of a 17-article series where we deep-dive on the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of business partnering by putting it on a formula)
Everyone Can Adopt A Business Partnering Mindset?(part of a six-article series about FP&A Business Partnering)
From Business Partner To Working Within The Business?(part of an article series where I interview finance professionals about their careers in FP&A and Business Partnering)
Is Your Product Optimized For Value Creation??(part of a toolbox series where we look at what tools FP&A professionals should leverage to drive value creation)
How Business Partners Turn Analysis To Insight?(part of case study series where I interview business partners about how they drive value creation using real cases)
Anders Liu-Lindberg?is the co-founder and a partner at the?Business Partnering Institute?and owner of the largest?group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering?on LinkedIn with more than 10,000 members. I have ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company?Maersk. I am the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner” and a?long-time Finance Blogger?on LinkedIn with 60.000+ followers and 140.000+ subscribers to my blog. Recently I became an advisory board member at?Born Capital?to help identify and grow the next big thing in #CFOTech.
Helping purpose driven founders and CEOs prepare for growth, exit or fundraising. Fractional CFO for B2B SMEs.
3 年Thanks Anders, this article really resonate with what I have been writing on. To answer your questions as a decisions facilitator I am developing by listening, embracing FOLO (Frequency of Learning Opportunities) and team work with my customers.