Decision Making
Everyone gets a say but someone makes a decision
One of the most nonsensical pieces of dogma ever conceived is "let the team decide" - an intellectually vacuous extract from the book of manager-speak, that falls apart quickly under examination. Consider a group of 10 individuals making a decision.
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The ideal situation with regards to decision making is uniform consensus - all 10 in agreement.
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Say 9 agree and 1 disagrees… but that 1 has a long track of being right in similar decisions. "Let the team decide" means nothing. It could mean "majority rule", but that’s calling for blindness to the individuals involved, reducing them to blobs.
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Similarly, say 8 have no relevant expertise/experience, but 2 have lots… and the group is split 8 to 2 along those lines. Same problem.
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Say a disagreement splits the group evenly. Then what? "Let the team decide" means nothing. Does it mean "majority rule"? What evidence is there that 50% is the threshold for optimal decision making? Why not 80%?
How do we make decisions to maximize the probability of success? Reason dictates:
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The nature of the individuals matters
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Authority matters
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The process matters
The model for decision making in the Mixed Management Method is:
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Have open discussions where anyone involved can have a say.
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More investigation and analysis may be required to progress the decision-making i.e., iterate
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Some decisions will become apparent during this convergent process. For the most difficult decisions, it may reduce down to one person making it - authority matters.