Decision-making is an important part of leadership, but many of us are never taught practices that we can use to make great decisions.
Because of that, at work and in life, even though you may make decisions with great intentions, they may end up turning out poorly.
Have you ever made what you thought was a “good” decision, but it turned out poorly? Or been stuck, unsure how to make a certain decision?
You’re not alone. Many leaders learn decision-making through trial and error – and those errors can be costly.
In this article, we’ll cover 17 key decision-making practices that will help you make better decisions that get better results.
Decision Mindset Practices
Before we dive into specific techniques, let’s look at how you may think about decisions, because your mindset shapes everything else.
1. Think in Probabilities, Not Certainties
Many leaders think decisions are like chess – if you make the right move, you’ll win. But the truth is, decisions are more like poker.
In poker, you don’t know what cards other players hold or what’s coming next. Even with a great hand, you might lose. With a poor hand, you might win. It’s all probability.
Business (and life) decisions work the same way:
- You don’t have all the information
- Outside factors can change suddenly
- Even good decisions sometimes have bad outcomes
More than that, we often think of things as yes or no, it will or it won’t. Instead, we should think in probabilities.
Don Moore in Perfectly Confident gives an example of a leader asking someone how much of their product they think will sell next quarter (or year). They were looking at a specific number, such as 100,000.
The problem is, that number will be wrong. It will be higher or lower (very rarely will it hit that exact number). Instead, It’s better to think in probabilities and even ranges.
“Based on past data, there’s a 20% chance we will be between 80,000-90,000, 40% chance 90,000-100,000…” etc.
Do you see how that can help you make better decisions and plan better?
Thinking in probabilities helps you:
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