Strategic Discipline Blog

Have you ever struggled making a decision?

More than any other aspect of your business, decision-making is the key to business success.

In Decision Making we shared the military principle, ”Being decisive always results in less loss of life. The decision to attack, retreat, or defend will always provide a result less costly than no decision at all. Being decisive makes the difference.  Indecision costs lives, and so too does it cost us money, confidence and respect in our businesses.”

FAILING TO DECIDE

Not long ago when I was struggling to make a decision, a dear friend sent me an article on decision-making.  It provided valuable insight, and I hope by sharing it will assist you as well.

When you are agonizing over a decision, this article noted, it’s probably not due to there being a disparity in the direction to go in.  Difficult decisions have very little variance on which is right or wrong.  Decisions with little difference in sway, are not about which is the right decision, but rather what you do after you make your decision.

The article pointed out the truth about any decision isn’t in having made it, it’s what you do after you decide, the outcome you produce which determines whether it was right or wrong.

Impactful Decisions

The opposition and opinions each face serve as the crucible for their challenging decisions.

Watching the movies, I was struck by the enormity of their tasks as leaders.

In Churchill’s case, the survival of the United Kingdom and countless lives hung in the balance. In Graham’s case, her company’s public offering, and its survival would very well be determined by her decision. 

We’ve shared a number of blogs on the nature and value of decision-making, including:

• Work Longer – Make Poor Decisions: Jeff Sutherland’s Scrum shares how Judges decisions are influenced by lunch, and how working to hard only makes more work.
• Questioning Your Ability to Make Good Choices: How good is your leadership team at making good decisions? Are you achieving 75% completion on priorities you set?
• Should you Measure or Estimate for Decision-Making?: If you had leukemia would you want an estimate or measurement on your survival. How does your company measure performance?
• Good Decision Making: Proper Execution is the determining factor in any decision-making process.
• It’s A WRAP - Better Decision Making: From the Heath Brothers Decision Making: Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, a four step process for better decision making.
• Conflict Norms Provide Better Decision Making Meetings: In Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni recommends developing conflict rules for leadership meetings. Learn why and see an example.
• Four Villains of Decision Making – The Ghost of Christmas Future: Disturbing statistics on leadership decision-making, plus the 4 Villains of Decision-Making, Narrow Framing, Confirmation Bias, Short-Term Emotion, and Overconfidence.

DISRUPTION: Survival Decision

Over the past 12 months, I’ve been sharing with my customers and my email subscribers the critical place we are at in the survival of many businesses. Outthink the Competition by Kaihan Krippendorff, and the Outthinker Process ignited this passion.

Digital Disruption has already target many industries and businesses.  The full weight of this disruption is still sending ripples through the economy.

You can either disrupt yourself, disrupt your industry or be disrupted.  The wave of disruption will engulf you, unless you choose to discover how your business can benefit from this disruptive activity.

Has your business already been disrupted? 

IF not, the question isn’t if, it’s when.

Are you prepared?

The decisions you make, or don’t make in the next 6, 12, 18 months may very well mean the life or death of your business.

Are you blind to the need to make the necessary moves to disrupt your business?  You have many options to choose from?

How competitive is your business now?  Have you downloaded 8 P’s Calculate Your OUTthinker Score - Assessment?

Disruption in your business, your industry is here, NOW.  Are you prepared?  Are you doing anything about it?

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $250M) business Scale-UP. We help you align everyone in your business to focus on Your One Thing!  To achieve growth, you need to evolve in today’s rapidly changing economic environment.  Are you avoiding a conversation with yourself on how to can grow your business? Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

Strategic Procrastination – First Mover Disadvantage – Next Blog

Digital Disruption is infecting every business an industry.  Adam Grant’s book Originals shares helpful ideas for innovation.  The next one is counterintuitive. I’m challenged to believe it. I’ll share when Procrastination can be strategically helpful and why there is an inherent disadvantage to be first.  Next Blog.