Decision as a leader's task
The White Book preamble lists making decisions together with giving direction, developing people and building culture as the essence of leadership. Avoiding a decision is also a decision - often the worst one (see laissez-faire in Lewin's styles).
Who should decide? The Vroom model
Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton (1973) described when a leader should decide alone and when to involve others. A simplified scale:
- Autocratic - the leader decides alone with the information at hand.
- Autocratic with information - the leader gathers information from others but decides alone.
- Individual consultation - the leader asks people for their views, then decides.
- Group consultation - the leader discusses with the group, then decides.
- Group decision - the group decides together, the leader facilitates.
Involving people makes sense when their acceptance matters, they have relevant knowledge and they share the organisation's goals. It is crucial that people know in advance how the decision will be made - consultation presented as a vote breeds frustration.
What kind of situation? The Cynefin framework
Dave Snowden and Mary Boone (A Leader's Framework for Decision Making, HBR 2007) described the Cynefin framework, which distinguishes decision contexts:
| Context | Feature | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Simple (obvious) | cause and effect are clear | sense - categorise - apply best practice |
| Complicated | there is an answer, but experts are needed | sense - analyse - respond |
| Complex | causes visible only in hindsight | probe - sense - respond |
| Chaotic | no cause-effect relationships | act - sense - respond |
Adaptive challenges usually belong to the complex context.
Thinking traps
Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011) described cognitive biases that distort decisions, such as confirmation bias (looking for arguments for what we already think), anchoring, overoptimism and the sunk cost effect. Irving Janis described groupthink - striving for agreement at the expense of critical evaluation. Helpful practices: appointing a “devil's advocate”, collecting opinions before discussion, the leader speaking last, and a “pre-mortem” (imagining the project failed and looking for causes).
Decision and discernment
In the Christian perspective, analysis and models do not replace prayer and discernment, and discernment does not excuse us from careful thinking. Prudence - the first of the cardinal virtues - is the virtue of good decision making.
Sources
White Book of Good Leadership Practices, preamble, bialaksiega.pl V. H. Vroom, P. W. Yetton, Leadership and Decision-Making, University of Pittsburgh Press 1973 D. J. Snowden, M. E. Boone, A Leader's Framework for Decision Making, Harvard Business Review 2007 D. Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011 I. L. Janis, Victims of Groupthink, Houghton Mifflin 1972 G. Klein, Performing a Project Premortem, Harvard Business Review 2007