How Great Decisions are made

Decision making is not about consensus.  It depends on conflict and that’s the key. What we found in companies that make a good decision is the debate is real. When Colman Mockler in Gillete is trying to decide whether to go with cheaper disposable plastic razors  or more expensive ones , he asks marvelous questions. He pushes people to defend their point of view.  I found this process in all companies I studied. When they make leap to greatness. The debate is real in search of understanding. This conflict and debate leading to an executive decision. No major decisions, I have studied was ever taken at a point of unanimous agreement. There were always some disagreements in the air.

Creating a debate is crucial, but there are some ingredients that lead to great decisions. Most people start with outside world and try to figure out how we can adopt to it. Greatness does not happen that way. It starts with an internal drive.What is the truth of this situation? There are four parts of this question.

1. what are our real core values and our real aspirations?

2. what is really driving us internally?

3. What is the truth about the outside world and how it is changing?

4. What could we do better than anyone else in the world ?

 Now look at the boieng’s decision to build 707. What are the factors? First you have the values of Boeing  “ We are adventurous for goodness sake” which means that we like doing big adventurous things. We would rather not be in business than not to do that. Second Aspiration to make boeing  even greater than it was . Those are internal drives which have nothing to do with adapting to the outside world.

But the third question, what was the truth about the outside world and how it was changing? Well the war was over and there was much change in technology from propellers to jets  and the demand for military aircraft's was going to decline relative to demand for commercial aircraft, so that how outside world was changing.

Now the next question is what could we do better  than anyone else in the world. Well they had Jet technology They had been building those big jet fighters the B- 47 and B- 52 . They had experience so they knew they can build a large scale jet. Boeing confronted the truth , internal and external and grasped that they could make a distinctive impact by bringing the world into jet age.