How to make better decisions, quickly.

Read time: 3.5 minutes.

More than a decade ago, a Senior Director for Google Adsense was presenting to then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

“Stop. Who’s responsible for this decision?”

Schmidt yelled.

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Three people simultaneously raised their hands.

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“I'm ending this meeting. I don’t want you to return to this room until you figure out who the owner is. Three owners means no owner."

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I see this behavior frequently on teams— Either there are too many decision-makers, or the team has no idea who's supposed to be the final decision maker. We're playing a game without understanding the rules of the game.

​So, who decides?

​Autodesk does a great job of establishing ground rules around decisions.

"We’re very clear at the beginning of every meeting whether it’s one person’s decision, or whether it’s more of a discussion to reach consensus, I think it’s a really valuable thing to understand because otherwise people can feel frustrated that they gave out their opinions but they don’t understand the broader context for the final decision.”

Carl Bass (Former president and CEO of Autodesk)

How do you decide?

​Here's an effective decision-making rubric that will help you and your teams make good decisions without confusion:

​Start by categorizing and labeling your decisions by who gets to make the decision.

• Type 3 decisions: Individual from the team makes a decision
• Type 2 decisions: You make the decision after deliberation
• Type 1 decisions: You make the decision without deliberation

What is a Type 3 decision?

T3 decisions are consensus-driven. However, they still have a specific owner.

​When do you deploy a T3?

This is a decision when you're going to rely on the "wisdom in the room/zoom." While anyone has the authority to decide, we still need a single owner who will decide.

[EXAMPLE] You're deciding timelines for a big launch. Your team is closer to the problem than you are. They understand the complexity better than you. You allow them to pick a decision-maker. Their word is final.

​How do you deploy a T3?

[SCRIPT] "Team, this is a T3. You guys are closer to the problem. Please pick an owner and make a decision by EOD today."

What is a Type 2 decision?

You're going to decide after consulting with your team.

​When do you deploy a T2?

Your team can't seem to decide which strategy to pursue. There's a bottleneck, and you're the only one who can unclog it. You'll hear the pro[s] and con[s] and make the final call.

​How do you deploy a T2?

[SCRIPT] "Team, this is a T2. Let's debate this thing for the next 20 minutes. Once I've heard both sides, I will make a call by EOD today."

What is a Type 1 decision?

Type 1 decisions are rare. You're the decision-maker, and this is a unilateral decision, and the team knows it.​

When do you deploy a T1?

It's wartime. Your biggest customer is churning. This might be the time when you might make some unilateral decisions to direct your team.

How do you deploy a T1?

[SCRIPT] "Team, I'm making a T1. Here's what we're doing, and here's the reason for it."

Establishing decision-making ground rules is a good way to increase certainty and clarity on your teams. Your decision might sometimes be an unpopular one, but I promise you, it’s better than not having one at all.​

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Keep leading,

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