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W e all make dozens of decisions each day. Some are relatively simple, such as which shirt to wear in the morning. Others are complex, such as deciding whether or not to go public with your company. Decisions made easy As leaders in the A/E/P and environmental consulting industry, how we approach the decision process can be as important as the decision itself.
Some decisions are self-generated, while others are pushed upon you. For example, I forced you to make a decision about reading this article. Would it be relevant? Would I learn from it? Would it be worth my time, or just another time moocher? “How many decisions are you faced with each day and how do you approach them?” I know a former CEO who was so overwhelmed by the dozens of decisions he had to make each day. Some were literally life-or-death decisions. “Frankie” made some very logical, rational, and tough decisions during his tenure, but his home life was another story. When he had to make simple decisions at home, he absolutely locked up. Frankie’s low point came after a particularly stressful week at work. When he and his wife, “Lola,” went out for dinner at a local restaurant,
he froze at the sight of his menu. Beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetarian, salad, or pasta. His eyes glazed. Each menu category had sub-options, giving him dozens of combinations from which to choose. It was overwhelming. How many decisions are you faced with each day and how do you approach them? Here are several approaches you could take. ❚ ❚ Cut the clutter. I’ve seen a lot of enterprising project managers build elaborate PowerPoint pre- sentations for their clients describing in excruciat- ing detail the logic behind their recommendations. It was not uncommon to have over 150 slides of graphs, pictures, quotations, and caveats. How does one respond when presented with a mountain of details before making a decision? I cut out the clut- ter. Eliminate the information that doesn’t directly contribute to a decision. I’ve worked for a C-suite executive who set a limit on the number of slides he would view on a given See BILL MURPHEY, page 12
Bill Murphey CONTINUING ED
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 15, 2016, ISSUE 1139
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