decision making

Dealing With Problems and Decision Making

Dealing With Problems and Making Decisions [1]

Inevitably when you are a leader you will have to deal with problems. How a leader deals with these troubling circumstances and leads through them is what determines if he/she is a good or “desperately in need of improvement” leader. If you have ever agreed to hold a position where others in the room look to you for what to do when things go wrong then you need to have at least thought about a process for dealing with these problems. In large organizations they call them “contingency plans” but most of us don’t have shelves of three-ring binders we can flip through when disaster comes upon us.

One of the best skills a leader can posses is dealing with problems before they arise (through prayer, advanced planning, training, etc.) but eventually no matter how much you plan there will be times when problems find their way into your life and you have to deal with them.

First and foremost a spiritual leader desires to know the will of God’s concerning what directions or actions they should take. So as one prays, studies Scripture, and contemplates the circumstances consider the following:

Questions to Answer
Am I committed to doing God’s will in this situation? (Romans 12:1-2)
Sometimes the answer is easy and His will is plain, but we are not willing to do it. It may require us to confront someone who will have their feelings hurt, or we know they will become angry, or we may even lose our job (or place of ministry, or at least we think we will).

Sometimes the decision is not so clear, but we must commit to doing God’s will in each step that we know what to do, and when His will is clear. Sometimes as a leader we lay ourselves down “as a living sacrifice” and be willing to “take a hit” so that Christ’s name may be lifted high. Strong personalities, or strong willed people who feel their way is best (instead of the given direction from the leader) will try to take the organization in a direction that may be away from the expressed will of God and toward what benefits them personally. So opposing these people may be difficult for the leader and even his family. So we begin the process by asking how committed is the leader to following God’s will; is he willing to do whatever it takes to see God’s name and will held as the top priority?

Are the desires of my heart to pursue this particular course? (Psalm 37:4)
This Psalm says that when we delight ourselves with the things of God, He will give us the desires of our heart. So our main objective as a leader is to see that God is glorified and that His name is lifted up. When we lead people to do this as well, then it should bring delight to our hearts. Our desire then becomes seeing others give God glory with their lives.

Is the problem something that you feel needs to be fixed (do you even care about it)? Or would it be best to pass off (i.e. delegate) this problem to someone who is passionate about it, or who “has a heart” for that area? If you say, “This is something that we can’t ignore. Something must be done about this,” then make sure your heart is lining up with the commandments and teachings of Scripture.

Does God provide the power to continue working on the project and make the necessary decisions to achieve it? (Isaiah 26:3)
This passage from Isaiah discusses how God gives the mind peace as the person trusts in God. So the leader must make decisions that result from prayer and contemplation but ultimately result in a step of faith where he/she trusts that God will take care of him/her and work through them in the situation. It is easy for others to second guess decisions after time has passed and the problem has passed. But what makes one a leader is that they must make a decision in the midst of the storm. Trust God once you feel you have heard from Him and pronounced a decision.

Also, what makes a spiritual leader different from a secular leader is that they rely on the Holy Spirit for things not provided to those who do not believe and place a saving trust in Christ (such as strength, insight, faith, peace, resources, etc). Does the leader have a sense of peace as they work through the process that the most current decision is the right one?

In determining what to do next in the midst of a problem it is helpful to define some terms.

Definitions
Decision-making; this is choosing between alternatives. Often times the alternatives are not good and bad, but good and good, or good and best.

Problem solving; this is the process of formulating and implementing a plan of action to eliminate a difficulty. Problem solving tends to deal with internal issues.

Conditions; these are currently uncontrollable circumstances superimposed on the situation from outside. A considerable length of time is required to change conditions noticeably. Conditions tend to deal with external issues.

Problem Solving Process

1. Determine if the situation is a problem or a condition. Is the situation coming from outside of the organization or the inside?

2. Clearly state the problem.

3. Determine what will be gained or lost in solving the problem. Don’t create a bigger problem by solving a smaller one.

4. Identify alternative methods and solutions.

5. State the cost of each alternative.

6. Choose between alternatives (as you pray, have Bible study, seek godly wisdom, etc.).

7. Delegate action steps and begin implementation.

8. Evaluate progress.

One of the biggest mistakes leaders make in dealing with problems is that when they are working through this process they don’t take into account the feelings of those in the organization as they begin to make changes. Even if these changes will improve the situation of all concerned, people typically don’t like changes; especially if they don’t play a part in the decision making process. If you are in a “boss-employee” situation then the leader could just state the decision in a memo and be done with it. But in a volunteer organization (such as a church) then people choose to follow or not, the leader has to be sensitive (but not overly controlled by) to other’s feeling and emotions.

The following is a way of asking people how they are feeling and gives an opportunity to discuss the change process as you go through it.

When __________ (occurs), I feel ______________ (state the way you feel), because ________________ (state why you feel that way.)

For example: “When you change things, I feel fearful, because I do not understand where we are going and how it will affect me and my family.”

Your goal is to get honest responses and point them to Scripture and the rationale and reasoning process you have taken to reach the decisions that have been reached.

__________________________

[1] Note: information for this article was taken from notes of Dr. Ken Coley in a class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary entitled Church Administration in 1998.

Cutting the Rope: Sunk Cost Fallacy and Leadership

In economics there is a concept called the sunk cost fallacy. A â€œsunk costâ€ is money that has been spent and there is no way to get it back. For example, if you were to buy a ticket to a football game only to discover that it is going to snow (100 percent chance). Having discovered these atmospheric developments you know you will not enjoy the game. You have spent the money and there is no way to get that money back and you know that you will be miserable if you go.

The â€œsunk cost fallacyâ€ is where you decide to go to the game anyway because you feel you have invested too much into it not to go. A common way of saying this is â€œI want to get my moneyâ€™s worth.â€ You go to the game in a blizzard knowing you will hate it because you have spent â€œtoo much on these tickets not to go.â€

You commit the sunk cost fallacy when you let unrecoverable costs influence your decision-making. You allow yourself to develop a false notion that you will recover the loss if you proceed.

The fallacy is that instead of looking forward and making your decision based on a realistic outcome; instead you look back to investments (money, time, emotion, effort, etc.) you have already put into the project.

Another common way of expressing this idea is â€œthrowing good money after bad.â€ The idea that if I keep spending money on this effort then eventually it will pay off, even though it has already shown to be a loss. In fact, the more (time, energy, emotion, effort, etc.) that you have put in the harder it is to cut your losses and walk away.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you feel â€œstuckâ€ and recognize that you may be falling into this fallacy ask yourself the following questions:

If you had to do it over again â€“ would you have taken the first step? If you answer is â€œno,â€ then cut your losses and bail.

Can your present resources (time, money, emotion, effort, etc.) be spent on something more beneficial instead of remaining with the present situation? If the answer is â€œyes,â€ then cut your losses and bail.

Is this situation keeping you from something else? You see this question in relationships. Sometimes we find ourselves in a relationship where we know it is taking us nowhere and we see constant flaws in our partner but we stay in the relationship anyway. Why? Because of all the time we have already put into the relationship. The longer the relationship continues the more entangled you feel.

Sometimes walking away is the wisest decision we can make.[1]

There is also a psychological tendency to favor â€œnot losingâ€ over â€œthe importance of gaining.â€ Humans tend to favor hanging on to what they have (not losing) rather than taking a risk of making changes in their lives (gaining). They would rather stay in a poor dating relationship (if they have been in it a while) rather than take a risk to be single and finding someone more comparable.

We also donâ€™t like the idea of looking foolish, that we have made a bad decision, or have wasted resources. Instead we push on into even more bad decisions and even more wasted resources. We have the false notion that it will get better . . . eventually . . . if we just keep going. But realistically, the longer you continue to stay with a bad decision the more foolish you look â€“ even in your mind you make be thinking that it is noble, honorable, enduring, etc.

With our decision-making, only future costs and benefits matter. So back to our example of the football game: Instead of going to the game (even though you have paid an exorbitant amount for the tickets) you decide to stay home instead. You are rested, warm, and can watch it on your television. Going to the game will not recoup the money you have already spent on the tickets. You have now cut your losses, and are relatively happy.

In leadership, there will be times when you have led your people into a project or effort and things are not looking good. Everything is going â€œsidewaysâ€ and your trusted sources are telling you that you need to do something. You could continue to move forward or stop the effort. When this happens (and it will eventually) think about the sunk cost fallacy. Are you making a decision to continue to move forward because of what you have already invested (thatâ€™s the fallacy) or do you truly see the benefits outweighing the costs moving forward?

_______________________

Click here for more information on â€œsunk cost fallacyâ€

I got the idea for this blog entry from listening to Jacob Goldstein and an NPR piece on Planet Money.

[1] No, I am not talking about you married people out there, or if you have kids. You are morally obligated to stick it out.

Empowerment

Empowerment:

verb (used with object)

to give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means:

â€œI empowered my agent to make the deal for me. The local ordinance empowers the board of health to close unsanitary restaurants.â€

to enable or permit:

“Wealth empowered him to live a comfortable life.”

In your organization how confident do those who look to you for leadership feel empowered? If one gives responsibility for a task, then they should also be given the authority/power to carry it out (and not have to constantly report to someone to see if forward steps are appropriate).

Assignment + Freedom and Authority = Empowerment

When people are given freedom to take care of an assigned task and then trusted to carry it out then they have been empowered. When a person feels empowered to handle a specific responsibility then several things can happen in an organization:

1) Confidence in decision-making. The person who holds the responsibility and the authority to carry it out will be much more confident in their decision-making. Those that hold a responsibility but lack the authority to execute the task constantly struggle with making a decision. If the leader knows that they are trusted to make the decision, then they can look forward and innovate, instead of looking over their shoulder to see if they are going in the right direction and have approval.

2) Raise questions â€“ those that feel empowered tend to ask questions more readily. They want to make sure they have all the information needed to complete the task. They want to do a good job, so they make sure they have everything they need. Also, those who are empowered who are apart of a larger team, feel more freedom to look at others areas, that are not their own and ask questions.

The more questions that are being asked, the better the organization will be as a whole. Questions like, â€œwhy do we do it this way?â€ or â€œthis seems really expensive, is there a way to keep the quality but do it cheaper?â€ These questions should be done with respect and professional tact, but when questions are raised it helps the leadership as a whole see things differently (or at least more systematically).

3) See new possibilities â€“ The issue of empowerment typically comes up with new leadership. Organizations that are not empowering new leadership will eventually lack innovation. â€œFresh Eyesâ€ have the ability to see all the flaws that the established leadership have either ignored or no longer see the issues as being relevant.

For example, once you know where the bathrooms are you no longer think, â€œhow will our guests know where the bathrooms are located?â€ But new â€œeyesâ€ will allow you to address issues that established leadership â€œknowsâ€ (or may not know) but have chosen not to address. These new leaders will ask questions and raise issues that may need to be dealt with (but for whatever reason up to this point have not been dealt with).

Also, when people feel empowered, are making decisions that are moving the organization forward, and when questions are encouraged, new possibilities arise. They may say, â€œwhat if we did this instead of this?â€ or â€œWhy donâ€™t we put up signs so new people can find the bathrooms?â€ New ideas will come forward and the organization either says, “yes” or “no”– but for a moment it readdresses what is important, a flash of the organizational culture is brought to the forefront, and the new leaders will see “how things are done.”

4) Disagreement â€“ When people do not feel empowered to make decisions then they do not feel the freedom to disagree. When aÂ leader is never challenged, and people do not feel the freedom to ask questions, or suggest new possibilities â€“ then they surely will not disagree with the leader (at least face-to-face).

But disagreement, if discussed, will force the organization to evaluate both sides of the disagreement and reach a solution. Disagreement allows the organization to sift through what is truly important and what is not. It has to decide what parameters it isÂ using to make the decision. It evaluates what both sides of the argument would affect. In the end disagreement will lead to a deeper understanding of why and how things are done a particular way.

Some questions to ask:

1) How empowered do those in my organization feel?

2) Are people given both responsibility and the authority to carry it out? (how much oversight do those in the organization receive) By the way, a lack of oversight can be just as damaging to empowerment as too much oversight.

3) Do people feel a freedom to ask questions? What is your organization’s way of encouraging questions? When was the last time someone asked a really good question that made everyone around the table stop and think?

4) Do people feel free to disagree with the main leader? If so, what is the typical response? Are people “punished” for disagreeing? Is there a organizational culture in place that rewards agreement and discourages evaluation?

Decision Making and Problem Solving

One of the best skills a leader can posses is dealing with problems before they arise (through prayer, advanced planning, training, etc.) but eventually now matter how much you plan there will be times when problems find their way into your life and you have to deal with them.