- Clarify Issues: What is the main issue being decided?
This may seem obvious, but sometimes when you are wrestling with a big decision it is helpful to first clarify exactly what needs to be decided. Of all the factors involved, what can you control? What is out of your control? Let’s say you have a son getting into trouble at school, and you and your spouse are disagreeing about how to handle the situation. There may be issues related to his attitude, his friends, the school discipline model, relationship with teachers, etc. First, you need to clarify what the main issues are, prioritize them, and focus on what is most critical. Clearly define what you are actually making a decision about. You can spend lots of time arguing about the school disciple model, but that is probably not the top priority. You probably should first decide how to address your son’s attitude and create boundaries for the friendships that are influencing him. Clarify what decisions need to be made now, and schedule a meeting with the school board later. - Identify Options: What are all the possible options to consider?
You cannot make a clear, informed, confident decision unless you know what your choices are. If you are facing a problem, what are the potential solutions? If you are making a choice, what are the possible options? If someone asks me if I want to go out to eat at a Mexican restaurant, I will probably ask, “Maybe, what else is around?” You need to outline all the options before you can make a wise decision. This is true when it comes to choosing a college, job, or an employee. You might feel stressed about what college to go to, so the first order of business is to consider what the realistic options are. As you take into account school size, distance, costs, and majors, you can narrow down your choices to a manageable list. Then you can actually work on a list of schools to apply to. Making a decision with infinite options can quickly get overwhelming. Narrowing most decisions down to three or four reasonable options is much more manageable. - Gather Information: What information is needed to make the decision?
Important decisions can’t be made in a vacuum. The more information you have the better. It’s probably not wise to walk up to a car lot and just buy the first car you see! You’ll want to do some research and learn about the prices, gas mileage, reliability, resale, etc. However, researching dozens of car models could literally be an endless process. You don’t want to become crippled by information overload! Some information is more critical than others. Knowing the price and reliability of a car is pretty important. Knowing where the stereo system was manufactured is probably less important. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, advises that companies and leaders should make decisions with only about 70% of the information they need or want. I might bump that up to 80%, but the point is that most decisions need to be made before you could possibly know everything. We are finite creatures who will never fully understand every nuance anyway. So be wise, ask good questions, do the relevant research, and ask the Lord for discernment (Ps. 119:125). - Discern Urgency: How urgent is this issue being decided?
The issue of urgency in a decision relates to the previous issue of how much time and energy you spend gathering information. The more urgent the decision, the more important it is to make the decision quickly. As Bezos points out, sometimes making the wrong decision is less costly than making a slow decision. If a friend is hit by a car in the street, this is an urgent crisis that requires a quick decision! That is not the time to get online and research the local hospitals, read reviews, and determine who has the best trauma surgeon. Get your friend in the car and take him to the closest hospital you can! Even if you take him to the third best hospital in the city, a delayed decision would be even worse. This principle of urgency has implications for family, business, or ministry. If everyone is hungry and grumpy, just find a restaurant – it doesn’t have to be the best! But that is not the best approach to buying a house. Big decisions with long-term impact should take time. If your small business is looking to purchase equipment and hire people to expand your manufacturing line, that process should take some time. Delaying those decisions for months to allow for research, outside counseling, and careful consideration would be wise. - Determine Weight: How weighty is the impact of this issue?
This consideration is related to (but still different from) urgency. Deciding where to eat when you are hungry may be an urgent decision, but it is not weighty. Weighty decisions are those that impact 1) a lot of people or resources, 2) for a long time, 3) and are not easily reversible. The weightier the decision, the longer and more involved the decision-making process should be. Remember, most decisions in life can be reversed if you make the wrong choice. You can always transfer to a different college, buy another house, rewrite the mission statement, or let an employee go. Many people are poor decision makers because they make light-weight decisions using a heavy-weight process. This is why determining the weight of the decision is so important. I confess that I have a hard time with this. I overthink almost everything. Feeling anxious about making the wrong decision, I may take too long, talk to too many people, and think too much. This just creates unnecessary stress and burden! If you are a children’s director at your church, leading a team of volunteers to choose a new curriculum that will involve 30% of the budget for 25 teachers, for the next three years – that is a weighty decision that requires a heavy process. On the other hand, deciding what book study to do for a 6 week small group of 8 people is a light decision. Light decisions should be made with a quick, easy process. Heavy decisions warrant a more involved process. - Consult a Team: Who should be included in the decision making process?
Most big decisions in life impact other people, and there is wisdom in the counsel of others (Prov. 11:14). Only the most mundane decisions can be made by yourself with no other input. So, who is making the decision? Whose input matters? If you are married, most decisions ought to involve your spouse. If you are a teen or young adult living at home, many decisions should involve your parents. If you are leading a ministry team, a wise leader will get input from others on the team. But not only do you need to determine who will be involved in the decision, you need to determine the type of involvement they will have. Who has a View, who has a Voice, and who has a Vote?- View: When the pastor of a church has to make a big decision about hiring an associate pastor, he may keep the church members informed about the process. He is giving them a View into what is going on, but they are not making the decision. However, giving them a View is still valuable because they may ask questions or offer suggestions. But most of all, giving them a View will keep them included and invested. This will make things smoother once a final decision has been made.
- Voice: Next, the pastor may give the church staff and key ministry leaders a Voice in the process. He may ask them to give feedback on the job description and sit in on interviews to evaluate the candidates. The Voice of these key people provides invaluable insight and perspective that one person alone can never have. Their Voice in the decision making process is crucial, even if they are not making the final decision.
- Vote: Hopefully, the final decision doesn’t just come down to one person. In general, the bigger the decision, the wiser it is to involve more people (though not everyone has an equal role in the process). In the case of hiring a new associate pastor, it should not just be the pastor, but the entire elder team who has the final Vote. They should work together to incorporate all the information they have gathered from those who have a View and a Voice, so they can make a wise, unified, prayerful final Vote.
- Lead Wisely: How will the leader influence the team?
Most teams have, or should have, a leader. So, when it comes to critical decisions, how will the leader influence the team? Will he push through his preferences using the authority of his position? Or seek to humbly persuade the team of his convictions? Even when a leader has the power and right to decide for his team, he would be wise to respect the team, gather their input, and listen to advice (Prov. 12:15). There are a few ways a leader can guide a team – these four approaches move from least conviction to strongest conviction about the issue at hand:- Review Options: If the team leader doesn’t know what is best, or doesn’t have strong convictions, he might just review the potential options and allow the team time to discuss. As he moderates the discussion, he can evaluate what he and the rest of the team think is best.
- Present Pros & Cons: If he has some sense about what is best, he might review those same options but also add the pros and cons of each option in his overview.
- State a Preference: If he already knows what he feels is best, he might review the options, pros and cons, and then state his preference before asking what others think. This sets the direction for the team.
- Request Approval: If he feels strongly about which decision should be made, he might briefly review the options, state the direction he wants to go, and then ask the team to approve the decision. This strategy should be used sparely, or else the leader can be seen as pushy and not valuing input from others.
- Define Unity: How will healthy consensus and unity be defined?
Unity with others is often an indication of God’s hand in the decision making process (Acts 15:28). While making a decision everyone agrees with would be great, seeking consensus can be dangerous if it means you’re not actually making the best decision. As Martin Moore says, you don’t want to end up with “a decision that everyone can sort-of live with, but no one is actually happy with.” So, how will you achieve unity when there are different perspectives and convictions? Unity will probably look different in a marriage, business group, or church leadership team. In a marriage, you might be seeking a unanimous decision. But in a larger group, you might make the decision based on a majority vote. However, even in this case, those who didn’t hold the majority opinion can still be part of a consensus. Consensus is achieved when there is trust. Making a unified decision doesn’t mean that everyone gets their first choice – it means the stakeholders trust the team. However, sometimes disagreement is an indication of deeper problems. Especially with big picture decisions, the disagreement may be the result of fundamental misalignment on deeper issues of beliefs and values. If there is misalignment on fundamental issues, a strong leader can’t just continue to overrun others on the team without repercussions. This misalignment must be addressed. In the long term the leader must set aside time to address the deeper misalignment. - Communicate Clearly: How will the decision be communicated to everyone impacted?
Once a wise, careful decision has been made, it must be communicated well to those involved. If the people impacted already know there is a decision in the works, they will be more willing to receive the outcome – rather than feel blindsided. In most instances, providing some perspective and rationale for the decision will be helpful to others. And while it can be productive to answer questions and get feedback, if the decision has truly been made, don’t give the impression it is open to debate. Be clear and confident. Ask for their support. And remember, everyone who had a vote in the decision must be unified. Whether or not team members voiced concerns or preferred a different option behind closed doors, once you leave the room, you must stand together. Again, trust is what enables unity both in the decision and the communication. Just as a husband and wife shouldn’t bicker in front of their children, a team of leaders shouldn’t disagree in front of the organization.
0 Comments