A decision changes the way we do things today to achieve the future outcomes we have defined. An effective decision is one that generates results in 3-5 years.
Significant decisions will always trigger opposition. In fact, decisions of which everyone shows support are often declarative decisions, instead of executive ones. An executive decision reflects change in at least one of the following dimensions:
Resources
Change in the way we invest in our workforce or budgets.
Methods
Change in our internal procedures on how to do things.
Regulations
Change in rights & roles that individuals or companies are given.
Structures
Change in assignments of authorities or outcomes.
Every executive action can be measured by the change to budgets and regulations. An action that does not affect budgets or people is not an executive one but a declarative one. Leaders can discuss the general direction for the future without changing the course of action today. However, change is all about the tough decisions we face today.
On your site, you can choose to address each of the insights or only some . You don’t have to accept all insights, nor do you have to match all insights with decisions. This is not a democracy; you are in charge as the decision-maker. The insights might help you discover what works, but they cannot replace your discretion and knowledge.
It is essential that everyone can equally understand the decision; decisions should never be characterized by ambiguity. When necessary, you should assign responsibilities and define timetables. Different organizations might have different ways to allocate resources, define procedures, create rules, or change structures. Here are some decision-making examples:
New regulation will require that every business publish its policy of both equal opportunities and the share of minorities in its workforce.
We will invest $5m to upgrade our call center, so that all customers waiting longer than 2 minutes on the phone will receive a call back.
Following the call for greater transparency, we will appoint a new transparency director to publish annual reports to all members.
70% of our trainings will be devoted to building new capacities for change management instead of networking activities.
It’s better to frame your decisions in a way that helps your stakeholders act on them:
70% of the marketing budget will be diverted to targeting young couples.
We should make more effort to reach out to young couples.
Once a project admin publishes the decisions, we will offer to send a personal impact update to every participant. The feedback email will detail the link between the participant’s answer, the collective insight, and the corresponding decision that was made. Participants whose answers could not be linked to a specific decision will receive a general email with the top 3 decisions that were made in the project.
After you have made your decisions, the site will ask you to define each insight’s impact on your decision.
The insight changed your direction or helped you make a decision that you hadn’t considered. Projects with at least one insight that changed a decision will be defined as impactful. Participants with answers linked to this insight will be defined as supporters.
The insight supported a decision that was going to be made, regardless of the project. Participants with answers linked to this insight will be defined as supporters, but we’ll need at least one insight that changed a decision to define the project as impactful.
The insight got rejected because it cannot be implemented or there is reason to believe it cannot work. Participants with answers linked to this insight will be defined as opposing your decision, and the entire project will be defined similarly.
A project with impact is a project where at least one insight changed at least one decision.
.png)
