Decision Making under Pressure Part 2: The Shackleton Way!
Martin Lush
Quality System Simplification (Agility) & QMM Specialist : Culture (behavioural change) expert : Biotech Ops & QA Executive Leader : AI Innovator : NED : Leadership Coach : Qualified Person
When people ask me for a great leadership book I tell them to read ‘South’ by Ernest Shackleton. Here’s a quick summary:
In his rush to the South Pole in 1915, his ship the Endurance, became trapped in ice, forcing Shackleton and his men to camp on floating ice. After the ship sank, they embarked on an escape in April 1916, in which Shackleton and his men crowded into three small boats and made their way to Elephant Island off the southern tip of Cape Horn. Despite freezing winter conditions, mountainous seas, little food, no shelter or modern clothing, they all survived because of Shackleton’s leadership and decision making under pressure. He just used his version of ‘G.U.R.O.T’!
1. Create the Gap between stimulus and response. Don’t let emotion rule over logic in any decision.
2. Drive down Uncertainty. Get the facts, consult widely. Understand as much as you can first
3. Assess Risk. What could go wrong? Could you live with the consequences?
4. Generate Options. You must always have options and do what you can to minimize unacceptable risks
5. Identify Tradeoffs… and only then, make the decision
Welcome to part two of ‘Decision Making under Pressure’. I’m a great believer in learning from the experts, not reinventing the wheel. If the G.U.R.O.T process worked for Shackleton it will work for you. Your call to action:
1. Remind yourself of the G.U.R.O.T process, Decision Making under Pressure Part 1
2. Then take a look at how this process can be practically applied and share with colleagues and your network. We live in challenging times. To navigate our own stormy seas, we must perfect the habit of decision making under pressure. Start now!
Quality Professional
7 年Shackleton, an amazing leader who I think probably knew his men better than they knew themselves. He could read the situation before it developed and there never appears to be disagreements amongst his team. It is a great book South, but equally, Michael Smith's Shackleton is also a good read on the man himself - The family moto was by endurance we conquer and he really lived by it
Expert PV Auditor - Experienced in Global Pharmacovigilance Quality Assurance, Compliance: Human Health & Animal Health
7 年In my MBA program many years ago, we studied Roald Amundsen's trip to the South Pole in 1911. Amazing!!
CEO at Eureka Analytical Services
7 年It is terribly tempting to react to any stimulus as soon as recd, and I speak with ref to an office environment. The part where one speaks about putting some distance between the two, which I read as 'time' is really critical. I have found that when I create that 'gap' the rest of the steps in generating options, weighing them, evaluating consequences comes thorugh quite naturally. Very often, when receiving an email which either threatens my way of thinking or view on a subject, I have now learnt to type out a 'draft', with as much candor as I can (read as 'strongly reactive response)..and then read after the mentioned time 'gap' and then I am bale to filter down the response into something that is more reasonable, better thought out and well articulated. Great post! Thanks
Talent, Learning and Org Development | Air Force Veteran | Coach l TEDx Speaker | Podcast Host
7 年So relevant, Martin. I had read this book during my teens and it left a deep impression.