Help with your next big decision
Cup of tea version:
One of the things consultancies like Spring Thinking most often do is help busy people like you decide what needs to be done.
Ultimately, if you’re in business at a senior level you’re used to making decisions a lot of the time. Usually, you make these based on your own views and investigation, or you hear a report from a colleague which is followed by a recommendation.
The first method seemed fair enough. At least, that way, you live or die by your own ability and intuition. All you need is the time to do so…
But what about the second?
I recall a leading American firm of management consultants (you know the one) reporting on decision-making a couple of years back. They had discovered an incredible fact: regularly, the recommendations made by project heads to their boards of directors are biased by the desire to maximise the internal advantage of those selfsame project heads.
You can imagine the sort of thing. “I recommend we open an office, headed by someone rather like me, in the Caribbean.”
You’d turn that down, right? The trouble is: if you are making any decision based on recommendations from a colleague, two factors always pressurise you towards acceptance.
Firstly, you don’t have time to replicate their work to see if you agree with their conclusions. Second, whether or not they benefit personally, you normally only receive a single recommendation for action. You either agree with this or you risk substantial delay in making a decision.
It’s a bit like an arranged marriage - you’re told this is just right for you and given a number of reasons why. And then it’s a done deal. You never get to see the partners that aren’t being recommended. Even if they were really hot…
There is another way.
A little while ago, I found myself with an interesting task. The carefully-designed name for a £500M inner-city retail development had been bounced due to public disquiet. A new one was needed, and it was imperative a lot more people be consulted.
After a one day brand workshop, not one but three alternatives were found and, such was the need to avoid any further controversy, I ended up presenting all three to a series of community meetings.
Effectively, I had to clearly understand the options and make three separate, fully rationalised, glowing recommendations. To the same audience. Knowing that only one could be chosen.
It wasn’t easy, but it was great fun and at the end a clear verdict was reached. And it made me think – why don’t businesses do this more often?
Instead of challenging somebody to come up with “the correct solution”, task them with building a series of separate cases. Each would have its own strengths and weaknesses but each would be presented as if it was, in fact, the best option available.
In case this sounds like an ad agency pitch model, (where you see 4 or 5 passionate cases from different suppliers) note that I’m suggesting one person / team makes all 3 arguments. That way, you and your senior team can focus on the case being made and not the different people making it.
The only possible objection to this idea is that of resource… and you may have spotted that I have my selling head on here. Clearly, getting somebody external and objective to carry out some of this work will be easier than asking a busy colleague.
But, either way, doesn’t your next big business decision deserve this sort of treatment?
If the answer is ‘yes’, you can obviously take this suggestion for free and implement it your own way in your own company.
Or, to hear more about how Spring Thinking could help you, call or e-mail today.
Could be your best decision for a long while.
