Big Decisions and the Last Responsible Moment

As your leadership span-of-control grows so does the impact of your decisions. For that reason it’s important to develop a good decision making process for you and your team.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
July 22, 2018 2 minute read
Share
Leadership Tools: Make big decision at the last responsible moment.

If the decision is obvious with plenty of history showing it’s the right decision for you then you should do one of three things in the following order:  

  1. Identify if there are others on your team that could easily make this decision.  If yes then have them make it to develop the team. 
  2. Identify if there are others on your team that will struggle with this decision could with help.  If yes then coach them through the process and have them make the decision to develop the team.  
  3. If 1 & 2 don’t apply then make it and move on.

For other more complicated and highly leveraged decisions with no clear right or wrong:

  1. Set a decision timeline and communicate it to those involved so they don’t think it is procrastination for the sake of procrastination.  Know the last possible moment you can make the decision where the advantage of waiting reaches a point of diminishing returns. 
  2. Identify sources of additional information including advisory services to help provide you more situational awareness
  3. Don’t over-analyze which will lead to more confidence than competency in your decision.  
  4. When you do decide be decisive and execute with discipline.
  5. Don’t start “Resulting” regardless of the outcome.
Contractor Exit Strategy 2 of 6: Pass Down to Family
Contractor Exit Strategy 2 of 6: Pass Down to Family. This is a very common strategy for contractors and is successful for those with interested family member(s) who are effectively working in leadership roles.
Related Article
Project Cash Metric and Cash vs. Margin Variance
Contracting is a very capital-intensive business and it is critical to constantly be watching cash flow performance. This metric is the highest level of an “OUTCOME” for cash flow at the project level, summarizing the performance of ops and accounting.
Related Article
Preconstruction - Adding Value from the Perspective of the Project Owner
Finishes and other key design elements are important for both the project owner and architect. One of the highest value-adds provided during preconstruction services is protecting these throughout the design-development process.
Related Article