Decision-making overload is a common experience among managers. But you can process choices more efficiently and achieve better outcomes by using a checklist:
- Write down five company goals that will be impacted by the decision. This helps you avoid the rationalization trap of making up reasons for your choices later.
- Write down at least three realistic alternatives.
- Write down the most important information you are missing.
- Write down the impact your decision will have a year from now.
- Get buy-in from a team of at least two (but no more than six) stakeholders. Hearing different perspectives reduces your bias, but bigger groups have diminishing returns.
- Write down what was decided as well as why and how much the team supports the decision. This increases commitment and helps you measure results.
- Schedule a follow-up in a month or two to make course corrections.
Adapted from "A Checklist for Making Faster, Better Decisions," by Erik Larson
