From the “Ask Tom” mailbag.
Question – CC writes, “What are the analytic skills needed for decision making that will help a manager in problem solving?”
Response – The most frequent fatal mistake made by a manager is jumping to a solution without considering alternatives. There are several tools that can help you make better decisions. My favorite tool is a simple set of three questions.
1. What is the problem?
2. What are the possible solutions to the problem?
3. Which is the best solution?
This is a simple process that can be used alone by the manager or in a brain-storm session with the help of a team. This process can be used quickly for problems that require an immediate solution or can be used over an extended period of time for complicated issues. It is also simple to teach to supervisors so they can use it with their teams.
The power of this process is that it prevents the frequent fatal mistake, jumping to a solution without considering other alternatives. The discipline of using this simple three step process will have a positive impact on the quality of decisions made by a manager.
What would happen in your organization, if every time a decision had to be made, people stopped long enough to ask these three questions? -TF
If you have a question about management, just use the link to the right. Thanks to CC for this question.
I think the most frequent mistake is not listening to subordinates. This mistake resulted in the Challenger and Columbia shuttles crashing (read this great paper “why your boss is programmed to be a dictator” at http://www.changethis.com)
The mindset of a manager is “I am always right” – hence the problem. If that mindset persists, he won’t even look for alternatives.
Sorry – here’s the direct link to the paper:
http://www.changethis.com/19.BossDictator
Thanks for the comment, Peter, and for the link over to “Change This.” There is also a link on our blogroll.
Wow: thanks Peter. I also ran across a site that dealt with Challenger as well… in an, ahem, quicker timeframe. Taken together they show different ways of saying the same thing. Some people want 44 pages. Some want 2. Some want a paragraph (like TF’s) followed with others’ support.
It is all in the design…and you are in control of how you deal with your place in the design.
Oops: here’s the link for the article called, “How Did I Miss That?” http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,107510,00.html.
Gosh these posts remind me that many of those old sayings have much truth in them.
Just remember, when you are working with the truth. The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.