When it comes to decision-making, a small option set typically results in inferior or lower-quality decisions.
Studies show that leaders and decision-makers too often grab the first idea and then spend their energy justifying it.
This dramatically increases the odds of failure.
That’s why a robust and expansive option set is so important to quality decision-making.
Research for decades has confirmed that leaders who take the time to explore the many options available to them as they approach a problem or opportunity make better decisions.
An expanded list of options creates clarity and increases the odds that a leader will eventually land on a great choice. The key is to find additional options that aren’t obvious.
Hidden options usually appear when decision-makers deliberately change how they look at a problem or opportunity.
Perspective is everything, as they say.
Research on option generation shows that shifts in perspective spark creativity and expand the choices beyond whatever default set is easily generated.
To aid them in this process, good decision-makers turn to three questions to provide a fresh outlook about a problem or opportunity. These questions are nearly certain to generate options that have yet to be considered.
Question number one uses projection to reveal new choices. By projecting how another person or persona would approach the problem, new options quickly emerge.
The question to ask is: What would X do? — where X is a rival, an industry competitor, an admired stakeholder, or an experienced colleague.
By examining how others would think about and approach the issue, the decision-maker typically finds ideas and choices that have eluded them.
The second question is a form of reverse brainstorming.
The question to ask is: How could I guarantee a terrible or undesirable outcome?
Don’t stop there.
Now invert the answers into constructive options that haven’t been considered. Decision-makers are often blind to the choices this question and inversion reveal.
By identifying the opposite course of action to a failed outcome, new and unusual options commonly emerge.
The third and last question to ask is: If I were forced not to choose any of the current options, what would I do?
This will push a leader’s thinking beyond the default set of choices. An option that was off the table is often reconsidered from a different angle because of this question.
This question also reveals choices that align with a reality leaders refuse to see.
Expanding options in decision-making improves decision quality and increases the odds that at least one choice will closely match the real goals and constraints of the issue.
Less obvious choices increase the chance that a “best” option will be discovered. Quality decision-making depends on your ability to construct a great list.
The more choices a leader considers, the better their thinking becomes.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
