Of course, good leaders want to:

• Do a good job at delegating authority for decision making
• Empower people so they are motivated to expand their decision making

Here are a couple of important considerations:

• Delegation must be consistent…people need to be told the rules and the extent of their authorities
• Delegation must be communicated…it is not enough to say “Our people are empowered to make decisions”. It is important to ensure people understand how and when their authorities should be exercised. It is important to ensure people understand your decisions can be questioned…’within bounds’.

How should we go about setting up Decision-Making authorities so people are empowered?

 

Leaders - here is simple way to approach this: consider the people who directly report to you then have those people perform the same exercise for the people reporting to them.

 

According to Brian Tracy¹ there are 3 types of decisions:

• Command Decisions: decisions made by the Leader alone
• Consultative Decisions: decisions made by the Leader after the Leader has consulted with his/her direct reports [and other folks, as required]
• Consensus Decisions: decisions where the Leader delegates the decision-making authority to his/her Leadership team…i.e., like the others, the Leader gets a single vote

As mentioned above, communication is important. The first step is informing everyone you think it makes sense to follow Brian Tracy’s advice and use 3 types of decisions. After that, start by saying, “This is a consultative decision” or “This is a consensus decision” or “This is a command decision”. This probably will not be required because people will understand the decision type by the way you introduce the decision. On the other hand, there is no harm in making sure by saying things like “I would like to consult you about this” or “Can we come to group consensus about this” or “I have made the following decision’. When in doubt – over-communicate.

 

About Command Decisions: I have told people I have a 10-3-1 Guideline:

• For every 10 [command] decisions I make I expect about 3 will be questioned
• For every 10 [command] decisions I make I expect about 1 to be strongly resisted

Why?

 

It seems to me 10-3-1 is about the right ratio. When I make command decisions I will make mistakes…hopefully, I do not err more than 3 times out of 10 decisions. If I do then I shouldn’t be the boss. Occasionally I will make a glaring mistake…hopefully; I do not do that more than 1 time out of 10 decisions. My communication of the 10-3-1 ratio is an effort to ensure everyone is comfortable questioning my decisions…’within bounds’.

 

***

 

According to Dale Carnegie...

 

"When Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House, he confessed that if he could be right 75 percent of the time, he would reach the highest measure of his expectation." 

 

Roosevelt's 75%... that supports the selection of 3 in 10-3-1...or, at least, it suggests having 3 of 10 decisions questioned is in the right ballpark.

 

 

Footnote:

Link to Brian Tracy www.briantracy.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eckhart Tolle teaches the Power of Now and the Art of Presence:

• We only have the present.
• When the present passes, it becomes the past...and it is gone. It is at best a memory.
• The future is not guaranteed to any of us. If it arrives then it arrives as the next piece of ‘the present’.

 

So, I am about ready to set aside the question “What is Time?” Although, before I do that I will restate my views:

• Time is an organizing-tool designed by Man.
• Time is an introductory effort at measuring the incomprehensible [universe].

 

 

We have a P=2S+O© philosophy…

 

For every Problem we should come up with at least 2 Solutions. And, we should keep our eyes and ears open for Opportunities.

 

We think:

• We should work at Solutions before we take Problems to our bosses: when we have a need to receive help from our boss we should at least take 2 Solutions with each Problem. Our bosses will appreciate that. And, this approach will help us develop keen problem-solving skills.
• Problems do not equal Opportunities in disguise. It makes little sense to seek out Opportunities each time a Problem visits us. This could very well turn out to be an exercise in frustration. On the other hand, Opportunities sometimes jump out at us when we think about Problems. From time to time Opportunities do ride on the wings of adversity. When that happens we must give our Opportunity-ideas our full attention.

Here is a link to our P=2S+O template.

 

I have been asked: How should we go about finding Solutions for Problems?

 

There are many different ways.

 

A few months ago, we described one creative framework for Solution generation, Edward de Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats”. Here’s a link to that Thought Post.

 

Here is another suggestion, Brian Tracy’s 7 Steps to Effective Problem Solving:

• Define the problem clearly, in writing. Go slowly. You want to make sure you identify the components of the problem because one of those components must be solved first, before the others. What else is the problem? You need multiple definitions.
• Identify the causes underlying the problem.  
• Identify all the possible solutions. Do not assume there is only one solution. Define your boundary conditions for the solutions and the result you wish to achieve.
• Make a decision: select the best of the solutions. Ask yourself why this is the best solution.
• Establish a fall-back solution, an alternative solution...Plan B, which would be implemented if the solution fails. This forces you to expand your view and it may cause you to change the solution.
• Ask yourself, what's the worst possible outcome if the solution fails and if Plan B fails?  Again, this may cause you to alter the solution.
• Assign specific responsibility, who, what, and a deadline for when.

Footnote:

• Link to Brian Tracy    http://www.briantracy.com