How to Empower Confident Decisions, Inspired by the Human Body
Tami Reiss
Speaker, Advisor, Board Member, and Author, AKA "The Product Leader Coach" ?? UnLeash the Leader Within You and Your Team ?? Transforms leaders into executives by leveraging the product mindset ??
WHERE TO: You as a leader guiding an responsive team that makes autonomous decisions.
WHERE FROM: Struggling with slow decision-making processes that hinder your team's ability to respond quickly to market demands and customer feedback.
WHERE NEXT: Implementing strategies to empower your teams, creating clear guidelines, and establishing feedback loops for faster decision-making.
Imagine touching a hot stove.
Before you even realize what's happening, your hand has already moved away. This speedy reaction isn't a conscious decision – it's a reflex, courtesy of your nervous system.
Now, imagine your organization reacting to challenges this fast. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the obvious choice for how to respond didn’t need a drawn out process or full consensus??
Work would be sooooo much more efficient!!! Not only would certain things get done faster, but also we’d have more time available to discuss more complex issues where the answers aren’t apparent.
In this article, I’ll show product leaders how to use the body’s decision-making processes as inspiration for improving how their team operates. We'll explore how to drive your teams to make faster and more efficient decisions, leading to successful products. Like most of my advice, though it’s targeted at product leaders, anyone managing a team should find value in implementing the practices. Even if something starts in the R+D org, in some cases, these changes will spread throughout your company and make everyone more efficient.
This dive into the world of human physiology and a little trip down memory lane for me. Not many of you know, but Physiological Science was my undergrad major at UCLA! I often say that it taught me to be a systems thinker and that my understanding of its elegantly integrated organs help me better visualize the way computers, the internet, and microservices work.
The Human Nervous System Is Primed for Efficiency
Here’s a simplified high-level explanation of the science of what I’m talking about, so that everyone is starting out on similar footing.?
Our nervous system has two main parts: the central (CNS), and the peripheral (PNS).
The CNS, which includes the brain, handles complex decisions, planning, and coordination.
The PNS, made up of the nerves that spread throughout the body, acts as a relay system and is always gathering information and giving instructions. Sometimes, it jumps into immediate action when the situation requires it.
The spinal cord connects the PNS to the CNS, transferring data to the brain so that it can make conscious choices. (it’s technically part of the CNS, a note I’m putting in here so scientists don’t get mad at me for misrepresentation.)
Each of these systems is responsible for a different kind of bodily response.
The CNS captures memories, makes cognitive decisions, directs the body, and takes “longer” to ponder over things.
The PNS brings information from our limbs to the brain, such as how soft a kitten’s fur is while we pet it. These nerves are also in charge of directing our bodies to do things like throw a ball or walk up stairs. It takes the instructions from the brain and turns them into actions. But there isn’t always enough time to wait for the brain to provide a response to a stimulus… like when you touch a burning hot stove.
This is where reflexes come in, those immediate split second responses to stimuli. Reflexes happen thanks to nodes in the spinal cord which are closer to our peripheral limbs and don’t involve the brain - at least initially. When you touch something hot, you pull away your hand in a split second. It doesn’t even give your body time to register the pain! It's an efficient response that, sometimes, can save your life.
But here's the catch: the reflex doesn’t end there. Afterward, your brain is informed about what happened so that it can record in your memory the interaction with the stove. This feedback loop allows your brain to learn, and your body to make future adjustments. Touch something hot once, and your brain will remind you to be more careful next time.
From Body to Business: What We Can We Learn From The Nervous System
Ok, but what does this have to do with business and organizational decision making practices?
Everything, as it turns out.
Your company's leadership is the brain. They're responsible for complex, strategic decisions that shape the organization. They set the vision, make long-term plans, and coordinate things at a high level.
Product managers, designers, engineers, sales, CS, and everybody else are the PNS and spinal cord. They deal with day-to-day challenges, interact with customers, gather information about what's happening and then share with leadership.
Both fast and well thought choices are as critical in a company as they are in our bodies.
But let’s focus on reflexes.
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Their goal is to avoid harm. To provide quick responses to situations that simply can’t wait for a longer processing time.
The body has reflexes to enable super fast reaction time. Businesses need to have the option to do the same when it’s appropriate. This means creating the conditions for teams to make quick decisions that don’t require management to be involved. The ability for team members to make choices that avoid “burns” or missed opportunities.
If every time a PM encounters a bug, they have to escalate it all the way up to the CPO for a decision, nothing will ever get done!
Why Constant Centralized Decision-Making Fails
In some business cultures, leadership requires involvement in all important decisions.
While this is a common mindset, it’s also a dangerous one.
Having every decision going through leadership would be like asking your brain to approve every reflex. It just doesn’t work. It creates decision fatigue, slows down iterations and, most likely, leads to many missed opportunities.
Autonomous product teams need the freedom to make decisions on features, user experience, and prioritization without constant oversight.
Plus, solely having centralized decision-making tends to demotivate employees. The only exceptions to this trend are Apple with Steve Jobs and small startups where it actually is efficient.
People crave a sense of autonomy in their work (check out Daniel Pink’s talk on this). When this is missing, they become less engaged and less likely to take initiative. On the contrary, by encouraging employees to take action without direction, you’re also fostering a culture of trust and empowerment.
But how can a company loosen the reins of control while still ensuring the business keeps meeting its quality standards?
How You Can Create Business Reflexes
Companies need to create “business reflexes”.
The key is to empower teams to act with autonomy WITHIN defined parameters, generally instances where employees have previously encountered similar situations and therefore have a strong idea of what to do in response.
First, train teams to handle common situations and explain that they do not need to seek approval from management when responding. Make sure they have the knowledge, tools, and confidence to make decisions on the spot… what I like to call “muscle memory” which comes from performing repetitions until motions become routine.
Next, define clear guidelines and protocols. Think of this as the neural pathways in our bodies, providing a framework for quick decisions. For instance, a customer service team can have pre-approved solutions for common complaints. This allows them to resolve issues immediately without escalating them. Similarly, a sales team should have a list of discounts they can offer and rules about when they are allowed to do so. The same applies to every role in the organization.
Finally, don't forget the feedback loop - this is a critical step! If you remember, after the reflexes, our spinal cord informs the brain about them. You should do the same. Encourage teams to report back on the decisions they've made and whether the protocols setup are successful. This feedback is a fantastic tool to help the organization learn, adapt, and improve over time.
This isn't about letting go of leadership responsibility.
Our brain still plays a key role in learning from and modifying reflexes, but it doesn’t slow down responses to common situations.
In the same way, leadership is still essential to setting strategy, guiding, and analyzing feedback. Leaders are also responsible for putting the business reflexes in place to improve agility and contribute to the development of the organization and all its parts.
Conclusion
Our bodies rely on reflexes to keep us safe. In the same way, organizations thrive when teams are empowered to make quick and informed decisions on their own.
Evolving your product organization from a slow, hierarchical structure to a responsive one is hard. But it is also key to future-proof the business.
If you’re trying to implement this but still struggling, I am here to help. I invite you to check out my packages or schedule a FREE 30-minute mini session to talk about your current situation. You can also always send me an email at [email protected] to share your story or a question.