Archive for the 'Decision Making Questions' Category

May 26th 2007 Auditing the Decision Process

To audit their decision process, leaders can ask some simple questions:

  • What shortcuts are we employing?
  • Is the team converging prematurely on a single alternative?
  • Are experts exerting undue influence?
  • Have we drawn the appropriate analogy?
  • Are we engaging in herd behavior?

Source:
Making difficult decisions in turbulent times
by Michael A. Roberto
Ivey Business Journal, May/June 2003

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May 25th 2007 12 Questions to Help Avoid the Mind Game of Over Simplifying

Scholar and ethics consultant Laura Nash suggests twelve questions that can help leaders avoid the mind game of over simplifying. The following questions may raise ethical issues not otherwise considered, or help generate a variety of “out of the box” alternatives. Before settling on a solution, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Have I specified the problem accurately?
  2. How would I describe the problem if I were on the opposite side of the fence?
  3. How did this situation begin?
  4. To whom and to what do I give my loyalties as a person or group and as a member of the organization?
  5. What is my intention in making this decision?
  6. How does this intention compare with the likely results?
  7. Whom could my decision or action harm?
  8. Can I engage those involved in a discussion of the problem prior to making a decision?
  9. Am I confident that my position will be valid over the long term?
  10. Could I disclose without reservation my decision or action to my boss, our CEO, the Board of Directors, my family, or society as a whole?
  11. What is the symbolic impact of my action if it is understood?
  12. Under what conditions would I allow exceptions to my position?

These questions initiate a thought process that underscores the importance of problem identification and information gathering. Such a process can help leaders guard against over simplifying an otherwise complicated ethical decision.

Source:
Why Good Leaders Do Bad Things
by Charles D. Kerns, M.B.A., Ph.D.
Graziadio Business Report, Vol. 6, No. 4

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Aug 23rd 2006 12 Questions to Help Avoid the Mind Game Over Simplifying

Scholar and ethics consultant Laura Nash suggests twelve questions that can help leaders avoid the mind game of over simplifying. The following questions may raise ethical issues not otherwise considered, or help generate a variety of “out of the box” alternatives. Before settling on a solution, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Have I specified the problem accurately?
  2. How would I describe the problem if I were on the opposite side of the fence?
  3. How did this situation begin?
  4. To whom and to what do I give my loyalties as a person or group and as a member of the organization?
  5. What is my intention in making this decision?
  6. How does this intention compare with the likely results?
  7. Whom could my decision or action harm?
  8. Can I engage those involved in a discussion of the problem prior to making a decision?
  9. Am I confident that my position will be valid over the long term?
  10. Could I disclose without reservation my decision or action to my boss, our CEO, the Board of Directors, my family, or society as a whole?
  11. What is the symbolic impact of my action if it is understood?
  12. Under what conditions would I allow exceptions to my position?

These questions initiate a thought process that underscores the importance of problem identification and information gathering. Such a process can help leaders guard against over simplifying an otherwise complicated ethical decision.

Source: Why Good Leaders Do Bad Things / Charles D. Kerns, Ph.D. / Graziadio Business Report, Vol. 6, No. 4

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