The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

Introduction

Decision-making, along with leadership and communication is one

of the top three attributes a successful manager needs. It is a direct

result of ‘thinking’ and you need to be able to ‘think until it hurts’.

Decision-making is directed to reaching a goal/objective. It is about

the how, what, why, when (and where) of a course of action and of

how to overcome obstacles and to solve problems. Decision-making

is what turns thought into action: it implies change and requires a

decision to be made against a background of uncertainty and risk.

(In this chapter the use of the term ‘decision-making’ embraces

‘problem-solving’.)

Decision-making skills

You need to be able to choose the action or course of action that

is the best for you/your organisation to meet its objective(s). An

effective decision is one that produces the goods, ie gives the

desired end result.

It is important to be able to project ahead, to take the expected and

unexpected into account, to have contingency plans in case events

intrude in such a way as will turn a good decision into a bad one.

There are usually several different decisions that can be taken and

pressure to decide. Decide you must, even if trial and error are then

used to assess the decision, amend it or overturn it.

Fear of failure must not serve to make you risk-averse, rather it should

push you harder to ‘think until it hurts’.

The effective decision has these six elements:

1 Defining the objective

2 Gathering sufficient information

3 Identifying the feasible options

42 The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership