Devil in the Detail
Falling back on immediate impressions and intuitions, getting bored or impatient with the detailed facts and figures
Intuition is a double-edged sword. At best, intuition instantly identifies the issues and generates flashes of inspiration to come up with creative solutions. This is “blink” decision making. At worst, it can also be highly misleading, making decisions without a considered appraisal of the problem, the range of options and consequences of different solutions. Intuition can be the rationalisation of knee jerk decision making. Interrogate to get to the real facts of a situation. Don’t get sidetracked by irrelevancies. Understand the scale and scope of a problem by asking the key questions: who, what, where, when and, and above all, why? And keep probing to ask, “what do you mean?” to check your understanding of the issues.
Know the life decisions that matter and get them right. Each day we literally make thousands of decisions, most trivial and unimportant, requiring little conscious analysis or reflection. But some decisions (e.g. which vocation or career to follow; who to choose as your life partner; who to work with in setting up your own business; when to retire) are critical to our long-term life outcomes. Get these decisions right. Don’t allow your heart to rule your head in weighing up the options and committing to a decision. Be cool headed and rational in considering your alternatives.
Spot the we’re sort on top of it bullshit. Don’t accept any vague response to a major problem. Drill into the specifics. Focus on:
- what specifically is the problem?
- what facts are known and unknown?
- what options have been considered?
- what solution is now being implemented?
- who has accountability for dealing with it?
- when can we expect a resolution?
Others may seek to exploit your freewheeling approach, hoping a glib analysis will satisfy you. Develop that cutting edge to keep others honest in their account of the problems they’re tackling.
Take a second look at your first impressions. Your immediate appraisal of a person, idea, proposal or decision is exactly that – immediate, based on your intuition of like-dislike and good-bad. Give yourself a few seconds of thinking time to check your feelings. Is this decision made from the heart (you want it to be the best solution) or the head (it represents the optimal solution to the problem)?
The “5 why” test: the cause behind the cause. Look beneath the symptom to identify what is really behind the problem. Ask “why” until you get the point when there is no more “why”. It usually requires 5 steps (don’t keep asking why beyond that level you can actually resolve). Once you’ve pinpointed a cause you can address, ask “how” to find ways of solving the problem. And don’t stop asking “how” until a practical course of action is achieved.
Decide how to decide. Outline to others a clear view of the decision making process you intend to utilise. It will avoid confusion. The options are:
- command. Here external forces (e.g. legislation, regulation) define the decision. There can be no argument. You are simply passing on the demands of the circumstance. There is no “wiggle room”, so don’t pretend there is. The only decision is: “how are we going to make it work?”
- consult. Here you invite others to express their views as part of the influencing process before you make your decision. At best, consultation is an efficient way to elicit ideas and opinions to reach the optimal decision. At worst, it is a delaying tactic to postpone making the obvious but unpopular decision. Be genuine in your consultation. Consult only when you will listen and are prepared to change your mind.
- vote. This is an under-utilised decision making tool. If you’ve generated several good decision options, put the final selection to the vote. If you’re in danger of talking with no prospect of closure, call for a vote. But ensure a secret ballot. Don’t allow power dynamics influence independent thinking and undermine the “wisdom of the group”
- consensus. Here everyone needs to be in agreement to the decision: “a great blessing and a frustrating curse.” A blessing if it creates quality decisions and unity in implementation. A curse if it consumes enormous amounts of management time that result in unsatisfactory compromises.
Different decision making strategies are required for different problems in different contexts. Ensure everyone understands why you have embarked on a particular approach.
Be a realist in decision making and an optimist in implementing your plans. Don’t allow your personal enthusiasm to run ahead of the game when formulating your plans. Assume that your ideas will be much more difficult, take longer and cost more to implement than you think. Look at your proposed solution from every possible angle to assess the up and downsides. And once you have made up your mind and feel you have selected the best solution, commit. Deploy your energies and resources to make it happen, operating on the assumption that the solution will be implemented.
Imagine the worst case scenario when reviewing options to decide the best way forward. Don’t assume that your initial idea is the only or optimal solution. Think ahead into the future and imagine it has happened. Now list out five reasons why your favoured option failed. You will spot more reasons when you mentally pretend it has already happened than simply thinking about what may or may not occur.
Don’t believe everything you read. Not in the tabloid media, the quality press or even in professional and scientific reports and journals. The written word in an established publication gains a significance it doesn’t always merit. Develop your analytical skills to spot the spurious arguments. Be critical.
“I took a speed reading course and read “War and Peace” in one hour. It’s about Russia.” Speed-read. Take the time to enjoy the books you read for pleasure and intellectual stimulation. But speed read everything else: the pile of emails, letters, briefing papers, reports and articles on your desk. Speed-reading is not Woody Allen’s prescription. Speed-reading is the facility to spot the essential information quickly and retain the key issues to inform your decision making. www.wikihow.com
Use the SQRRR method to read the stuff that is important:
- Survey: look overall at the entire material to get a general sense of what is being covered. If there is a summary, read that first.
- Question: ask yourself questions before you read the material. What issues do you want to know about? Make the questions personally important to you.
- Read: absorb as much of the material as you can in answering the questions you’ve raised. As you read think about the answers.
- Recite: stop and summarise what you’ve just learned. Don’t look at the book. It is important that the material is now in the brain and doesn’t stay in the book.
- Review: go back to the material after a few hours/next day to check your retention and where need to reinforce your learning.
Keep practicising this reading method until it becomes habitual. It takes time to adapt to the discipline but it will transform your learning effectiveness.
Big claims require big evidence. Look at the detail of those findings and recommendations that are novel, breakthrough and surprising. Scrutinise the proposals and plans from your work colleagues which are claiming radical sales growth, major quality improvements or huge cost reductions. What evidence exists to support the hype of a transformational solution or product? Look for logical and systematic data to establish the claim rather than rely on the anecdotal accounts of the true believers. Be suspicious of the proposals of the passionate advocates, those individuals with a vested interest in the outcomes of change. Ask the cynics to share their version; they will be quick to spot any flaws in the plan. www.evidence-basedmanagement.com
Smart thinking doesn’t take short cuts. If you’re naturally smart, quick on the up-take and alert to the best option, then it is tempting to cut to the chase to make a swift decision. Use your intuition to move quickly but also recognise when the decision requires the hard work of research and analysis. Develop research skills to know where to look. There is no shortage of information in the world relevant to the issues and problems you encounter. Intelligent and motivated people have devoted time and effort to investigating these problems and recording their discoveries and insights. Know how to make your life easier by accessing this information by zeroing quickly in on the important material. Don’t waste time going down the blind allies and cul-de-sacs which others have already explored.
If you react you will over-react. Prepare well to anticipate the situation and the problems you will face. Unexpected opportunities can appear out of the blue requiring intuitive on your feet thinking and a rapid response. But most of the time, it is better to be in full control of the situation, the facts, issues and options before you commit to a course of action.
Play the devil’s advocate. Before committing to a key decision take on the role of your most critical opponent. Create a mental image of a rival who dislikes you and imagine their response to your proposals. Look at your own position from their perspective to spot any weaknesses or vulnerabilities in your thinking. How would they go about rubbishing your plans? Human nature is such that we focus on the positives, the data and information that back up and reinforce our existing views. It is easy to find an argument that can be rustled up to lend some kind of support to what we want to believe. Instead ask: what evidence would challenge your position?
Keep track of what you say, agree and do. Memory is fallible, prone to the recall of what is favourable and supportive of our position and unfavourable to anything that might question our existing beliefs. Don’t get paranoid but keep a work log of important conversations and actions. Document key meetings, transactions and events. Not only will this provide objective evidence when misunderstandings occur (what was said, agreed, achieved, etc), this document over time will become a valuable resource to shape your thinking and ideas.
Get it in writing. Keep a written record of any important meetings and transactions. Once you’ve written it down you can forget it. But ensure that others send to you a written summary of their understanding of what has been agreed. Review it to check that their version matches your expectations. Highlight any differences and send it back quickly to question any discrepancies. And if others don’t, send through your summary, outlining what was and wasn’t agreed. Some issues and decisions can be agreed with a shake of the hand. Others can’t, particularly anything to do with money.