Decision Making Tips to Avoid Resulting Fatigue

On a daily basis, from the time we select what clothes to wear and coffee to drink, who to hire or what product to develop, and where to go for dinner or what TV show to watch, decisions are inevitable. While some decisions are tougher than others, trade-offs are always going to be associated, and those choices will have either positive or negative outcomes.

The fast-paced world we live in continues to produce more and more of these choices, and this overabundance of options can cause decision fatigue. This psychological phenomenon can lead people to avoid decisions entirely, also referred to as “Decision avoidance.” But even decisions with negative consequences generate a learning and growth opportunity. Avoiding decisions all together simply does nothing; removing any potential positive outcome or hindering any learning opportunities. Have you ever heard the saying “Do something, even if it’s wrong?”

So, ask yourself a few questions: how can we avoid decision fatigue, which too often leads to decision avoidance or a deteriorating quality of decisions? Also, what prevents your company from making decisions? By avoiding the decision making process, what could it potentially cost you?

Most people would agree, successful companies make efficient and effective decisions. But it's not always easy, so here are some guidelines and tools to help:  

  1. Outline a problem or decision topic (try to focus on the underlying problem or objective)

  2. Organize a team brainstorm for the following 3 questions:

    1. What decisions are we avoiding as it relates to the problem?

    2. What is stopping us from making those decisions?

    3. Is there a decision making process that we can undergo to help us make the best decision?

  3. For each of the questions above (2.1 through 2.3), narrow your brainstorming lists, respectively:

    1. Select 3 to 5 different alternatives to resolve the problem

    2. Select 6 to 10 different criteria or constraints related to those alternatives

    3. Select a decision process that best suits your team. (For more on this you can search the web for decision tools, but Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), SWOT, and Pugh Method are just a few.)

  4. Utilize the preferred decision tool to select the best alternative for your team's problem or objective

The decision hierarchy below is just an example of a company objective, three possible alternatives, and decision criteria that factor into selecting the best alternative.

Decision Hierarchy.png

To be effective with your time, it's critical that all decision makers begin any decision-based meeting with a unified goal, such as, "by the time we finish this meeting we will have selected the optimal commercialization strategy for product X". Again, this should happen before any decision making process even begins. As part of the brainstorming process, utilize negative visualization techniques to address the what if and worst case scenarios, which may ease your mind of associated risks.

Jay Rushforth