InsightsCreating decisions
Making decisions is good. Creating decisions is better.
Most leaders are trained to choose. Fewer are trained to create the options worth choosing.
David Solomon3 min read
A great deal of leadership is presented as choosing. Option A or option B. Approve or reject. Now or later.
Choosing well matters. But choosing assumes the options in front of us are the right ones — and very often they are simply the ones that arrived first.
The constraint of reactive decisions
Reactive decision-making happens inside a frame someone else has drawn: a competitor’s move, a crisis, a proposal on the table. The decision-maker’s job is reduced to picking.
Reactive decision-making is constrained. However skilful the choice, it can never be better than the best option presented.
Proactive decision creation is where the magic happens.
Creating before choosing
Creating decisions means stepping back before choosing. Clarify the real goal. Question the frame. Examine the assumptions behind the options. Then generate alternatives that did not exist a moment ago.
Your mindset determines the perimeter of your options. Widen the perimeter, and the best decision is frequently one that was never on the original list.
Making decisions is good. Creating decisions is better.