Leadership development should teach the art of decision making
We expect leaders to make decisions. That’s one of the most important things that leaders do. It should be a core skill that we help leaders develop and refine. But we don’t do that.
Second Lieutenants versus middle managers on decision making
The fact is that just about any newly minted Marine Corps or Army Second Lieutenant will make decisions faster and better than just about any middle manager without military experience. That’s because the military thinks decision making is important and they’ve developed ways to make shiny new leaders good at it.
How the military does it
The Marine Corps and Army take men and women fresh from college and teach them to be effective decision makers. There’s no reason you can’t do the same thing. Here’s how.
Develop a simple system for analyzing a situation
Start by teaching new managers a simple system for analyzing a situation. The Army teaches a system called METT-T. It’s essentially a checklist that a leader can use to make sure he or she has considered all the important factors. You can do something similar for your company.
Develop a standard way to transmit a decision
The Army and Marine Corps both use a “Five Part Operations Order” as the standard format for communicating a decision. The standard format helps the decision maker be sure he or she has shared all important information. The standard format helps everyone understand what they’re supposed to do. You can create something similar for your company
Decision making takes practice
The systems help, but military organizations teach decision making the old fashioned way. They put new leaders in realistic situations, ask them to make decisions, and critique results.
That means there will be a lot of bad decisions in the beginning. That’s the price of learning. As Charles Handy says, “Getting it wrong is part of getting it right.”
