HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR DECISION-MAKING? WANT TO MAKE IT EVEN BETTER?

The great people we have the privilege to lead have high expectations of our performance in many areas. They expect us to have superior technical knowledge in our field. They expect us to be able to articulate our vision for our organisation clearly and concisely. They expect our communication skills to be at the highest level, and they want us to be exemplary in our expression of empathy, compassion and understanding, especially when they fall short. They want us to be outstanding solution finders for the problems they encounter fulfilling our expectations. But perhaps above all, they want us to make decisions, and to make them well. The people we lead expect us to be decisive and maybe, on top of that, they also want us to know all the answers.

We can all think of other leaders and colleagues in senior roles who are as smart as anyone can be, but who sometimes fail to make good decisions because they have strong convictions that get in the way, resulting in black-and-white thinking followed by uninformed decision-making. Their frequently overconfident decisions maybe result from their sense that they need to provide solutions based on past experience, or knowledge gained, or on their demonstrated capabilities and or on their deeply-held beliefs. Or they may simply have a lack of desire or ability to shift into learning and discovery mode to gather situational intelligence, and the absence of these behaviours leads to errors and their poor decisions

It is worth noting that, according to executive performance coach Samantha Tassone, humans make roughly 2000 decisions each waking hour. This hefty number of decisions significantly increases when you are in a leadership role, where the complexity and stakes simultaneously multiply. Tassone deeply understands the complexity of the decisions you make – so many of which fall into the category of what she calls ‘messy stuff,’ where the stakes are high, the emotions are strong and there is no specific right or wrong way to respond (see Discernment: A Critical Leadership Power For Upgrading Decision-Making, in Forbes, 4 Mar 24).

These complicated, messy situations you find yourself facing do not involve linear decisions, Tassone states, such as when a helicopter is malfunctioning in flight and there are known decisions and steps to follow in this high-pressure situation. Because a linear decision will not resolve your messy situation, she continues, what you are actually dealing with is a lot of grey area between the known details and unknown details. Perhaps making the decision also confronts you with internal disagreement, misalignment, conflict and or ethical dilemmas. You may be under time pressure as well to make a swift decision in this urgent, challenging situation.

And it is in just these situations, she affirms, when you need to call upon the critical leadership power of discernment. The Merriam-Webster?dictionary?defines discernment as the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure.

Tassone promotes discernment as a how-to approach to critical thinking that encompasses?striving to make sense of what is going on; being curious to gather situational understanding; leveraging intuition; applying sharp analytical techniques; calling on your emotional intelligence; and engaging a devil’s advocate to challenge your assumptions and convictions. All these practices make up a holistic approach for your thinking strategy when you are faced with difficult decisions, Tassone asserts, adding that Discernment as a cognitive ability is under-utilsed but well-researched, pointing to the essential need for evaluating and differentiating information in order to make informed decisions.

Tassone references Kent D. Miller’s description of discernment in the Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion: Discernment is a multidimensional concept of decision making by logic and reason, by empathy gained through reflection and understanding, and by moral ethics determined by one’s spirituality. In his article, Miller goes on to list three principles required for discernment: knowledge acquisition, self-reflection and self-regulation, and knowledge application to make an informed decision.

Knowledge Acquisition

Miller recommends that leaders gather information to understand the situation they are facing, and then to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant data. Tassone suggests that you remain open to shifting your convictions as you gain an understanding of new points of view, allowing for you to be willing to step back from your own initial convictions when new understanding is gained from your own research into the issues, or from your own executive team. Tassone advises you to:

? Lead with questions, not answers.

? Ask others to take risks and share their thoughts and concerns courageously.

? Request that a team member play the role of devil’s advocate.

? Identify what further analysis may be necessary, and who else might be a subject matter expert outside of your organization.

? Search diligently for all relevant facts.

? Separate your facts from your beliefs and/or convictions.

? Separate others’ facts from beliefs and/or convictions.

? Actively seek to understand others’ beliefs and to draw upon their expertise or experience.

? Distinguish between strong and weak arguments both pro and con.

? Evolve your empathy with the new understanding gained.

Self-Reflection and Self-Regulation

Drawing upon Miller’s explication, Tassone also counsels you honestly and authentically to assess and evaluate your own motivations, and then to determine how you want to participate in ongoing discussions to influence with intent where discernment is present. Cultivate an intentional desire to grasp the unknowns and to test convictions, both yours and others’.

? Be mindful about your emotional reactions and responses, and hold in your need to prove you are the smartest person in the room.

? Counter your anxiety or frustration by stepping graciously into showing sincere, genuine curiosity about another’s point of view.

? Repress your tension and frustration when others are not “connecting the dots” as quickly as you. Remember you have been close to whatever you are discussing with your team for longer than they have, and you may also have a deeper understanding of both content and consequences. Give them time to absorb what is being discussed, to reflect, and then express their views.

? Be patient with others and consciously shift your mindset and attention to being in learning and discovery mode.

Knowledge Application

Finaly, Tassone emphasises the importance of your organising information ij a way that ?brings others into a position of understanding, alignment and buy-in.

? Allow time for yourself and those sharing in the making of the decision to be in learning and discovery mode — despite whatever situational urgency and perceived pressure you may be facing. This is how you make time to secure the buy-in needed for decisions that result in shared understanding and commitment shared outcomes. Trust your ability for discovery and your intuition as to when it is time to shift into action.

·??Ask yourself what level of risk you are willing to take.

? Adopt spectrum thinking, where everything is on a continuum: it’s not good or bad, right or wrong. Messy decisions mostly do not have right or wrong answers, only optimal answers.

? Assess what information you have acquired that seems logical and that is also in line with your values and ethics, for how you want to appear, or how you you’re your organisation to demonstrate its commitment to the greater good.

? Determine a point at which you have gained enough facts, opinions, self-reflection, moral alignment and differing perspectives to make an optimal, well-informed decision.

Why is discernment as a critical thinking strategy be your greatest leadership power in complex situations, Tassone asks? Discernment can play a significant role in preventing poor or shortsighted decision-making. Leaders who apply this critical thinking approach develop a greater self-awareness of what influences their day-to-day decisions. Applying discernment carves out a space where high-quality critical thinking happens, in very specific ways, for decisions that must be made amid heightened uncertainty.

Discernment does not come with a ‘perfect decision’ guarantee, Tassone allows as she concludes, going on to attest that it is a guaranteed practice in gathering situational and social intelligence, developing empathy and gaining the understanding and influence to make informed decisions and the best choices in complex ‘messy’ situations.

Might be worth a try, hey?

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