Dawna Jones - Decision Making For Dummies

Dawna Jones believes business can be better for the people it serves and employs and for the planet that sustains us all. When not exploring the world or enjoying the great outdoors, she can be found on her website: www.FromInsightToAction.com . Her business podcast, Evolutionary Provocateur, is on http://www.Management-Issues.com and on iTunes. She regularly hosts business innovation webinars, exchanging ideas worldwide toward healthier workplaces and restoring care for Nature.

To my daughter, Lindsay Henwood, with gratitude for her steady support and unwavering encouragement and to all change agents boldly staying true to their hearts.

Writing Decision-Making For Dummies has been a cooperative venture with the management and business innovation community bringing together experience and stories that make the concepts in this book tangible. In addition, countless others have provided expertise and inspiration, but I would particularly like to acknowledge Dr. Rollin McCraty, research scientist; Joseph Bragdon, author of Profit for Life; Andy Haydon, specialist in occupational health and safety; and Andy Allen, CEO of RJ Allen, Inc. A special mention goes to Jack Barnard who unfailingly offered counsel.

Thanks also to Bill Gladstone and Margot Hutchison of Waterside Literary Agency; Wileys acquisition editor Stacy Kennedy and the invaluable contribution of project editor Tracy Barr, who steered direction and provided invaluable guidance. Finally, my deepest thanks to close friends and family for their patience.

Publishers Acknowledgments

Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy

Project Editor: Tracy L. Barr

Technical Editor: Tracy E. Barnes

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Cover Image: iStockphoto.com/shawn_hempel

Chapter 1

In This Chapter

Identifying the forces putting pressure on decision-makers

Working in a complex, uncertain decision-making environment

Restoring ethical integrity to business

Designing business cultures to make better decisions

Decisions are being made all the time, every minute of every day, and most of them are made automatically, without much intentional thought. Subtle yet pervasive forces influence the accuracy of every decision. Most decision-makers arent aware of these forces, yet their impact has huge consequences on company fortunes and peoples lives. With each decision, small or big, that you and I make, we shape the experience of life and, more boldly, the design of the world.

In this chapter, I show you how big-picture pressures are forcing business decision-makers to engage in higher-order thinking, to see things from multiple perspectives, and to embrace rather than fear uncertainty and complexity. More importantly, you discover how adapting to these changes lets you become a leader who is purpose-driven someone who leads by example, inspires confidence in his or her employees, and creates a working environment that is healthier and gets everyone working together toward success.

Although believing that your situation or your companys fortunes are beyond your control may be easier than facing the alternative, the truth is that experiences yours or your companys are shaped by the moment-to-moment decisions. Unfortunately, in business, many of those decisions are made under duress because the fires you have to fight every day can distract you from seeing the situation from a different perspective. When youre under pressure, routines even inefficient ones can feel like a lifeline.

To move forward, you need to step back from those routine patterns so that you can gain insight and see the opportunities youve been overlooking.

Your beliefs guide what questions you ask when you assess a new situation and how you view the information you uncover. They also act as a filter for the ideas that inform your reality. In business and in life, dismissing what doesnt fit is natural. But in the end, it also makes you resistant to change. After all, you cant change what you cant see.

In this section, I outline the big-picture trends impacting businesses today, explain how traditional beliefs about how business is done collide with todays reality, and show you what it means to you as a decision-maker so that you can select which beliefs to keep and which to change.