2 Considerations In the Decision Making Process: Speed or Velocity?
Do you, like many other business owners out there, think that one key aspect of leadership is to be sift in the decision making process? To a point, I would agree but for one thing, the impact of the decision matters the most…
In the context of organisational health, this could have significant ramifications. There is no doubt that leaders need to be familiar with decision making, however the point I’d like to raise here is the difference between the speed of a decision and the velocity of a decision.
SPEED is defined as the rate at which someone or something operates or can operate.
VELOCITY is defined as the speed of something in each direction.
Interestingly in my role as a high-performance business coach, I often come across business professionals who operate at speed. Often they are extremely busy people, in fact, the busiest within their organisation or team.
These business owners have no issue with decision making, and In fact, they are probably asked to make lots of decisions, likely because they have educated everyone that they are in charge of the decision making process.
The challenge is that the decisions they make may be ill-informed, hunches following their gut instinct (another topic altogether) and at best reactive to a situation.
Decision making with the ‘I KNOW’ oracle
There is another rather more expensive challenge to making decisions at speed. Did you know that I KNOW are the two most expensive words in business? Why? There will be those who have all the answers and by virtue will be able to make all the decisions! They will be the ‘I Knowers’. In these circumstances ‘I Know’ can have significant consequences and can be costly, hence the expense.
These business owners are using decision making on the presumption that they know the answers, they are the expert, they are the only ones who can. The immediate assumption is that they are always right.
Have you ever offered a solution towards a decision only confronted with ‘I Know’ and then dismissed? This I Know assumption will often result in speedy decisions, regardless of consequences. All thanks to the ‘I Know’ Oracle.
There is always an easy tell for the speedy decision-maker, the I know oracle, and that will be the level of busyness they suffer. Likely to be time-poor, which exasperates the need to make even swifter decisions.
To maintain the speed of business. Here lies the most significant challenge and point of difference between speed decision making, what I term, decisions of velocity.
Can you make decisions at speed?
Making decisions at speed doesn’t mean you are going to be heading in the right direction. Success doesn’t follow directly aligning to the speed of decision making. It is likely to result in working hard, sadly not working smart. Just think how fast you can run laps, starting, and finishing at the same point, you can run at speed, just not get anywhere.
So, when we start to look at making decisions with velocity, we start to focus on the speed in a given direction, moving towards something. When we start to focus on the speed in a given direction, we will be able to gain a greater focus on the desired outcome. Now whilst a play on words, namely speed and velocity, the resulting outcomes from decisions can be vast.
So how do we decide on velocity?
In the first instance, there needs to be a pause at the point of the decision to be made. Now dependent on the significance and importance of the decision this may be the need for a planning session and review or seconds in which to make key assumptions in regard to the decision.
These following questions will assist with the desired outcome from the decision, the velocity of the decision. Use these as a supporting mechanism in your decision making process:
- What is the situation or circumstance within which the decision is being made?
- Does the decision remain aligned to the purpose/why of the business?
- What is the impact desired because of this decision and how will the results be measured?
- Does this decision align with the business’s current objectives, and will it help achieve them?
- What resources will be required to accomplish this decision?
- When and where will activities take place in relation to the overall desired outcome?
- What control measures and limitations do I need to ensure are in place to support and protect this decision?
Once you have answered these questions, consider these additional questions to aid your decision making process.
Taking a moment to confirm the decision being made will have the velocity, resulting in the business continuing to move in the right direction will be extremely valuable and save money, time and team sweat. Don’t merely default to speedy decisions because that’s what’s expected, take a moment, and use these questions to review and ratify the velocity of the decision.
If you would like a free coaching session to explore how you can become a better decision maker and the benefits it will have for your business, team and life, you can book onto a session by clicking this link.
