Quick Deciding vs Quick Learning

Photo credit: Anne-Lise Heinrich, Creative Commons

I have observed what I believe to be a very detrimental shift in thinking within our corporate cultures over the last 15 years.

We’ve been inundated with instant communication that is with us everywhere 24/7 (I had one of the first Blackberrys as soon as it hit the market in early 1999). To be clear, I’m not railing against this technology. I love it and I couldn’t imagine running my business or staying in touch with my family and the world without it. But it has interjected a sense of speed and quickness that is altering the way we think and decide as we try to conduct business in a globally connected world.
However, this belief that we must decide quickly changes the dynamics of decision making in a detrimental way. Good decision making (See my post on Prudence) requires good deliberation. However, if we’re in a quick deciding frame of mind we get defensive when:

• someone raises an issue that feels like it is not in line with the current thinking or
• will open that proverbial “can of worms” if we entertain the idea, or
• they simply don’t agree with the current approach.

Teams have developed all kinds of behavior to suppress, shut down or discount the questioning view point. This eliminates good deliberation and will lead to an inferior (or even wrong) decision.
The shift we need to make is back to a quick learning attitude and then use a good process to make good decisions. What’s interesting to me is that teams who have mastered this quick learning leading to good decision approach, consistently make decisions quicker than those with the quick deciding attitude (not to mention better decisions).
Get better at

• • Quick learning with a…
  • Team of diverse points of view and…
  • Practicing good deliberation techniques to…
  • Reach great and lasting decisions.

You and your team will feel more productive, less stressed and will also begin to gain the reputation as high achievers.