For the past week, I’ve been blogging about specific techniques you can use as a leader to improve the quality of your decision-making (three or more alternatives, brainstorming with 2-6 others), and today I’m continuing this short series with a third tool – take a few minutes to write down the impact your decision will have one year into the future.
Now don’t just think about this, put it in writing. The act of writing is very powerful because it will force you to articulate the anticipated result of the decision, and it’s what happens next that will give you the enormous value. See, once you clearly express the most probable consequence in one year of the decision you are making today, it will very likely trigger and cause you (and others on your team) to remember similar scenarios, and thus provide further insights and broaden your existing perspectives. This tool may sound simple, but don’t underestimate its effectiveness. Its strength lies in its inherent simplicity. So try it if you haven’t already, I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised.
Have you already tried this very powerful tool to improve your decision-making? If you have, please share your experiences by commenting below.