I’ve been thinking about the process for making decisions – not the formal escalation process – rather the internal one.  The process that each of us goes through when we make a judgement of some kind.  What will I wear today?  How many calories will I eat?  Who will I hire or fire?  What direction will I take my organization?

While some of these decisions are more difficult, and have larger ramifications than others, every decision requires that we go through an internal process that taps our personal beliefs and filters information through carefully crafted lenses or biases.

I’m thinking that it is this internal process – something that’s different for each of us – that determines the effectiveness with which we make our decisions.  If we have a pretty good level of self-awareness, and know how our own personal gremlins show themselves, then we can probably make decisions that deliver results aligned with our original intention.  If, however, we are in denial about something, or have difficulty accepting accountability for our own actions, then it’s a pretty good bet that our decisions will manifest something fairly different (usually in a negative way) from what we set out to do.

All of this is to say that, for executives, whose decisions impact an entire organization, it’s pretty important for him/her to:

• Be very clear what his/her core intention is that is driving a decision
• Understand and take accountability for how his/her own core beliefs and biases influence the decision’s outcome
• Keep this awareness present as a touchstone throughout the implementation of the decision

In this way, we stand an even chance of actually creating an outcome that matches our intention.  Or, we get brought to our knees, allowing self-doubt and denial to carry us into a snowball of bad decisions.  Of course, if the only consequence of our decision is that we wear denims to a formal reception – no biggie.  If, however, we put the wrong person in a critical job, or contract with a disreputable supplier, we impact the livelihood of many people – definitely a big biggie.

We better start “getting to know ourselves” as early as possible (diapers?, teens?, college?)…it seems to be a pretty long journey.  Let’s just hope that we’re far enough along in that journey by the time we start impacting many lives that our self-awareness can keep us standing tall through the many tough decisions that have to be made in today’s ridiculously complex world.