You are wasting time, effort, and money! 

And you could be losing good people!

Dig deeper. Do the work. Be ready for what may be multiple causes. 

HERE IS ONE WAY…

A Multiple Cause Diagram will:

• Help you untangle your thinking.
• Identify causal relationships.
• Suggest effective points of intervention.
• Shine a light on unintended consequences that might arise if you take inappropriate actions.

And there is even more value:

• Do this as a team.
• Do this with stakeholders.
• It can help explain your thinking to others.
• They in turn can build on your thinking by spotting links you may have overlooked.
• A super-effective tool for collective pictorial dialogue!
• A tool that builds connection and common understanding.
• A tool that help minimise risk and spot opportunities!

SOME SIMPLE RULES…

• Write down the topic in the middle of a large piece of paper (or use software tools).
• Identify what the immediate causes are.
• Write these down, preferably on post-it notes so you can move these around as the picture emerges.
• Use arrows to indicate the direction of causality.
• Go “back” or”down” another level and consider what the causes are of these immediate causes, and so on.
• Consider whether there are any “lateral” connections between the causes.
• Are there any “feedback loops” emerging as a result of these connections? These might suggest effective points for intervention.
• Are there any groups of causes that taken together could be nailed with a single intervention? See example below.
• Also, consider what the topic itself might be the cause of.
• Use the other half of the paper to do this.
• Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

AN EXAMPLE…

Meetings are a necessary part of any business. And we have all experienced ineffective meetings. What if we could make things better? Check out this first pass at creating a multiple cause diagram. What would you add or amend?

A NOTE OF CAUTION…

Multiple cause diagrams are not reality. They are a simple high level representation of the world, or system, you and colleagues are experiencing.

But they are a whole load more valuable and helpful than fire-fighting a bunch of symptoms. 

You owe it to yourself and your business to give it a go. 

Let me know how you get on.

CAN WE HELP YOU? YOU BET WE CAN!

Get in touch now.

Dave Stewart

Founder & Chief Executive
dave@freshairleadership.com
07776 153428

You make decisions all the time, right?

But are you any good at making them? Who says? You? Colleagues? Others?

Are you noticing how you make them? Do you go on gut feel? Data? Others’ suggestions? Loudest voices? Favoured voices?

What is a good decision in your world? What criteria? What about readiness? Your mood? Your general wellness? And who do you include? How does it work across departments, functions, geographies?

For example, the Joint Decision Model is used by the Emergency Services to manage complex situations involving multiple different agencies with their different cultures and ways of working.

You will note the statement of common purpose in the centre. This acts as a reference point throughout the decision-making process i.e. each step MUST support “Working together. Saving lives. Reducing harm.” So, if waiting to get solid information risks lives, the Emergency Services leaders will press on round “the wheel” and take early action if necessary.

The “wheel” also makes it clear that leaders can/must continuously “go round the wheel” i.e. decision making in an evolving situation is not a single cycle as every decision and action affects the situation which then requires consideration and further decisions and actions until the situation has been resolved

A RUSH TO ACTION

We work with the leaders and teams of scaling, merging, and resetting companies.

You would be surprised, maybe not, that decision making is often poorly considered, if at all. There is often a rush to action.  Quality thought and collective engagement are absent.

Sometimes it works. Sometime it doesn’t. What are the avoidable costs of not making this a top issue?

MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY!

Sometimes decisions are COMMUNICATED AT colleagues. Fait accompli!

Sometimes colleagues are CONSULTED WITH about prospective decisions that are pretty much pre-determined.  Fait accompli too!

Sometimes they are a DEBATE between well defended positions. Winners and losers.

Sometimes they are made by an inner circle. Insiders and outsiders.

ANOTHER WAY

In high functioning teams, decisions are the outcome of genuine DIALOGUE where participants actively listen, and contribute without emotional attachment.

They create new understanding and novel insights in service of the business. Sometime this is not pretty but is embraced and valued as a creative process. Egos are parked elsewhere.

CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

What about the conditions for effective decision-making? How much thought goes into this? Location? Framing? Participation? Psychological safety? Process? Commitment? Communication?

CAN WE HELP? YOU BET WE CAN!

Let us look at the way decisions are made in your business. Let us help you develop a decision-making framework, one that helps you make consistently well considered decisions. A framework that recognises there are different types of decisions and different contexts. A framework that is flexible yet reliable. A philosophy as well as a process and practice.

If you are not making good decisions on a consistent basis, you aren’t really leading are you?

Be our client. Get in touch now.

Dave Stewart

Founder & Chief Executive
dave@freshairleadership.com
07776 153428