In a continuation of our 42 Rules to Lead by Jonathan Rosenberg, SVP of Google’s Product Strategy, this week is focused on Decision Making, and is short and sweet.
Start with the right goals – Choose your goals wisely. Goals drive behavior and conflict. Make sure you have the goals right, and if they’re creating conflict, change them.
Consensus does not mean unanimous – Teams are not juries locked in a room until they reach a unanimous verdict. There’s no reason to spend endless hours trying to get everyone on board – sometimes you just have to decide to go ahead. In fact, consensus with no dissent can be dangerous. If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking. Group dynamics are critical for solid decision-making. None of us are as smart as all of us.
Consider the customer – If there’s a doubt about what to do, consider your customer’s perspective.
From my perspective, if you are the leader and the team can’t make a decision, you need to. Being a leader means making the tough decisions, and that means you are not going to please all the people all the time. But being decisive is the first step in showing them you can make the tough decisions.
Make it a great day!