Honing those Decision-Making Skills

Word Count: 1,771 Estimated Read Time: 7 Min.

People make decisions all the time.  Today, you’ve probably already made dozens of decisions… small choices.  Get up early or hit the snooze button.  Go for a run or skip a day.  Make breakfast or grab a café au lait on the run.  We think most of these decisions have little to no bearing on the outcome of the day.  But getting up early, working out and having a healthy breakfast do impact stamina, focus and energy level.  So even tiny decisions can have a big impact.

And, even not making a decision is a decision.  As US President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.  The next best thing is the wrong thing.  And, the worst thing you can do is nothing.”  So decision avoidance is decision making at its worst.  Put another way, “Indecision becomes decision with time.”

So making decisions is inevitable.  And it’s important to make sound decisions.  But how can we be sure we consistently make good decisions?  What if there was a way to become better at making decisions?  The good news is that decision-making is a skill that can be enhanced and improved.  How?  According to author and sociologist Malcolm Gladwell, “Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.”  But that’s vague.  Let’s take a deep dive into decision-making ability.

Decisions Make or Break Careers and Company Destinies

In the bustling arena of business, we’re constantly bombarded with information, options, and the relentless pressure to move forward. Amidst this whirlwind, we must make sound decisions.  It’s more than just picking option A over option B.  It’s a complex blend of analysis, intuition, foresight, and courage. The key is to master it.  If you do, you pave the path to leadership and innovation. If you don’t, you risk stagnation, or worse, a precipitous fall.

The ability to make good, timely decisions is the bedrock upon which successful careers are built. Think about it: every promotion, every key project assigned, every leadership opportunity granted, is often a direct consequence of a series of sound judgments. Leaders are not just visionaries; they are, fundamentally, chief decision-makers. Their choices, big and small, create a ripple effect. A well-placed “yes” can unlock new markets, inspire teams, and solve critical problems. A hesitant or poorly conceived “no” can mean missed opportunities, demoralized staff, and a competitive disadvantage.

For the business itself, the stakes are even higher. A company’s journey is essentially a chronicle of its collective decisions. Strategic pivots, product launches, hiring choices, investment allocations – these are all junctures where the quality of decision-making dictates whether the enterprise thrives, stagnates, or withers. In today’s hyper-competitive, rapidly evolving global market, the organizations that make smart, agile decisions are the ones that not only survive but thrive. 

To illustrate the point, here are two examples of decision-making in business.  A good decision that led to huge rewards for the person and company and a bad decision that led to reputation ruin and corporate calamity. 

Case in Point 1:  The “Cloud First, Mobile First” Epiphany

When Satya Nadella took the helm of Microsoft in 2014, the company was a behemoth, but one perceived by many as having lost its innovative edge, particularly in the burgeoning mobile and cloud landscapes. Windows Phone was struggling, and while Microsoft had cloud offerings, they weren’t the central focus. Nadella made a monumental decision to shift the company’s entire strategy to “Cloud First, Mobile First.” This wasn’t just a tagline; it was a fundamental reorientation. He de-emphasized the Windows-centric past and poured resources into Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing service, positioning it to compete directly with Amazon Web Services. He also embraced open-source, a move once unthinkable for Microsoft, and pushed for cross-platform compatibility for Microsoft software.

This decision was transformative. Azure has seen explosive growth, becoming a primary revenue driver for Microsoft. The company’s stock price has soared, and its market capitalization has multiplied, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. Nadella’s career was cemented as a visionary leader who successfully navigated a legacy company into a new era of relevance and dominance. His decision wasn’t just good; it was brave, and it re-energized an entire organization.  As Paul O’Brien put it, “Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic.”

Case in Point 2:  The Fair and Square Failure.  Ron Johnson had a stellar track record. He was celebrated for his success in building Apple’s retail stores, a masterstroke of branding and customer experience. In 2011, JC Penney, a struggling legacy retailer, hired him as CEO with high hopes he could work similar magic for the flagging department store chain. Johnson implemented a radical new strategy: eliminating coupons and sales promotions in favor of “fair and square” everyday low prices, and redesigning stores into collections of boutiques. He believed customers were tired of “fake” prices and constant sales. 

This decision was a catastrophe. JC Penney’s core customers, accustomed to and motivated by discounts, felt alienated. Sales plummeted by billions, and the company’s stock price nosedived. Johnson’s vision, while perhaps theoretically appealing, completely misjudged the deeply ingrained shopping habits of his target demographic and went contrary to everything industrial psychologists know about how people make buying decisions. He was ousted after just 17 months. His golden reputation took a significant hit, demonstrating that a strategy successful in one context (Apple’s premium, experience-driven model) did not translate to another (a budget-conscious department store).

Sharpening the Decision-Making Axe: A Path to Improvement

The good news is that decision-making isn’t an immutable trait.  It is a skill that can be sharpened, like any tool with a blade. Here are steps to improve this ability:

Step 1. Clearly Define the Decision – What problem needs to be solved, or what opportunity should be seized? Fuzzy problems lead to fuzzy solutions. Be clear and precise about the issue in question. Is it a “what” decision (what to do?) or a “how” decision (how to do it?)?

Step 2. Gather Relevant Information (But Avoid Paralysis) – Seek out data, facts, expert opinions, and diverse perspectives.  Don’t ignore information simply because it is inconvenient. Understand the context, constraints, and potential resources. And, beware of “analysis paralysis” — the state of over-thinking to the point where a decision is never made. Making no decision is usually tantamount to making a bad decision.  Set a timeframe for information gathering.

Step 3. Identify Alternatives – Rarely is there only one path. Brainstorm multiple options, even those that seem unconventional at first.  Embrace the ones that seem scary or even potentially disastrous to oneself or the business. What are the different ways this decision could play out?  Seldom are the wisest decisions without risk.

Step 4. Weigh the Evidence and Analyze Consequences – For each alternative, consider the pros and cons. What are the potential short-term and long-term impacts? Use frameworks if helpful.  Do a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to make strategic decisions.  Do a Cost-Benefit Analysis to quantify the upsides and downsides.  Do a Risk Assessment to identify the potential risks of each option, and how can they be mitigated?  And even consider Second-Order Consequences.  Guestimate what might likely happen after the immediate result of your decision?

Step 5. Check for Biases – We all have cognitive biases (confirmation bias, anchoring bias, optimism bias, etc.) that can cloud judgment. Actively question assumptions. Seek out dissenting opinions. Ask: “What if the opposite were true?”  Seek out the nay-sayers and contrarians of the organizations to find blind spots.

Step 6. Make the Choice and Own It – Once through the process, commit to a decision. Indecision can often be more damaging than making a less-than-perfect choice. Take responsibility for the outcome.

Step 7. Take Action and Implement – A decision without action is merely an intention. Develop an implementation plan. Who needs to do what, by when?

Step 8. Review and Learn: After the decision has been implemented and some time has passed, reflect on the outcome. What went well? What could have been done differently?  What was learned? This feedback loop is crucial for continuous improvement. Even “bad” decisions offer valuable lessons when one is willing to learn from them.

The Real Enemy of Good Decisions:  Decision-Fatigue

The biggest problem with making good decisions is decision-fatigue.  Ever notice how the choices you make at 9 AM feel more considered than those you grapple with at 5 PM after a grueling day? That’s decision-fatigue. The capacity to make sound judgments is not infinite; it’s a finite cognitive resource that depletes with use throughout the day. Each decision, whether trivial (what to eat for lunch) or significant (whether to approve a major budget), chips away at this mental energy.

When decision-fatigue sets in, we tend to take cognitive shortcuts. We might make impulsive choices, opting for immediate gratification without fully considering long-term consequences, or we might avoid decisions altogether (procrastination), putting off choices because the mental effort feels too great.  Or perhaps we opt for the default or easiest option, even if it’s not the best one.  And we become more susceptible to biases, lacking the mental energy to critically evaluate information.  That’s why it’s crucial not to make important, high-stakes decisions when you’re tired, stressed, or at the end of a mentally taxing day.

To overcome or combat decision-fatigue, it helps to:

• prioritize decisions.  Tackle the most important decisions early in the day when cognitive resources are at their peak.
• simplify and automate.  Reduce the number of trivial decisions that need to be made. Standardize routine choices (e.g., attire, what you eat for breakfast, what route to take to work, what time to get up) to save mental energy for what matters.
• delegate.  Empower teammates to make decisions within their areas of expertise.
• take breaks: Step away, clear the mind, and recharge. Even short breaks can help restore mental energy.
• don’t over-schedule.  Avoid back-to-back meetings that demand constant decision-making.
• sleep on it. For non-urgent but important decisions, allow the subconscious to mull it over and approach it fresh the next day.  This often results in better clarity.

Decisions Define You

In the intricate dance of business, one’s decision-making ability is the foot that leads. It sets the rhythm for career progression and the tempo for your company success. By understanding its profound impact, learning from the giants who made bold calls and the cautionary tales of those who faltered, actively working to improve your process, and recognizing the limits of daily decision-making bandwidth, it is possible to transform a weak soft skill into the most powerful professional ability.

Quote of the Week
“Life is about choices. Some we regret, some we’re proud of. Some will haunt us forever. The message: we are what we choose.”
Professor Graham Brown

© 2025, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.