Tag Archives: Decision making

The Golden Rule

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in Management, Shared values

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Ethics, or moral principles, can be defined as, “Accepted rules of conduct by an individual or group.” We’ve heard the Golden Rule which urges, “Treat others the way you would like to be treated.” I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone believes in that. At its core, ethics urge us to do the right thing and avoid the wrong thing so each individual, and group, may improve.

Ethics exist in businesses too. Conducting business in an ethical way improves both individuals and groups—and, in turn, improves the way customers, suppliers, partners, and others see us. A super-simple ethical test is to ask these questions:

  • Is it legal?
  • Is it fair?
  • Is it right?

Shaping your business decisions by the answers to these questions increases the trust of employees, customers, and partners alike and directly strengthens brands.

Values can be defined as, “Principles, standards, ideals, or judgments of worth, held by an individual or group that have a certain weight in the choice of action.” When we have a choice to make—especially a difficult one—we consider what is most important to us. For example, when buying a car if we value safety over cost we might select the side airbags. If, on the other hand, we value ecology over luxury we might buy a hybrid instead of an SUV. If we value self-reliance it may shape how soon, or if, we ask others for help. If we value teamwork we may start our projects involving others from the outset, rather than bringing them in half way along, etc.

So, my question is this. If you happen to agree—and I doubt I’m provoking much controversy—when was the last time you specifically probed job candidates to understand their business ethics and personal or business values? Or, when you formed the strategy for your business, did you spell out the values that will guide you? When was your last “All hands” meeting where ethics and values were discussed?

Just sayin’…

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

The Right Job for You

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in Concentrating effort, Management

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Do you know how to design the right jobs after creating an organization that reinforces and facilitates your focus on customers? Here are the raw materials, and how to combine them, to make sure every job creates maximum value.

Why: Losing contact with why your company exists, getting caught up in the what and how of everyday work life, is a natural trap. It’s an insidious problem second only to losing contact with customers. When you set out to write job descriptions, have your purpose, vision, and mission statements right next to you. Make sure the job you’re about to create has clear and immediate links to why your company exists and its future.

Customers: Every job needs to explicitly create value for customers. It must be plain that every job exists to impact customers, not to support or facilitate some thrice-removed internal process.

Information: As discussed earlier, the work input and output of today’s worker is information. Clearly describe the kinds information the job requires and the information it produces—thereby satisfying others in the organization.

Results/Standards/Measures: Just like resumes, you don’t want to see ones that describe responsibilities. You want to see accomplishments against high standards and the degree to which the results missed or exceeded the goals that were set.

Relationships: Every job is in relationship to others. Describe the social context of this job and the flows of information.

Your People: Workers who do the job are really the only ones who know what the job is and how to do it. Involve them as early as possible in the design and improvement of their jobs. This is especially important to adding the final element: contribution. That is, the specific benefits the individual hired for the job can uniquely provide.

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved

Can You Decide?

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Effectiveness, Results

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Executives make scores of decisions every day. Cumulatively, organizations make hundreds and thousands of decisions daily. How do you ensure the quality of your decision making measures up to your own high standards?

An earlier post explored how divergent opinions must be considered before the best decision can be reached. But your decision-making process must also be explicit if your decisions are to be efficient and effective—and subject to improvement. Drucker’s philosophy is that a specific decision-making process is essential. In summary, he calls for us to:

  • Make as few decisions as necessary. Many issues, when raised, have already been settled. Don’t waste time rehashing old decisions—unless there is new information or the context has changed. Many things that come up are just exceptions to decisions that have already been made. They don’t require new decisions so much as simple problem solving.
  • Before making a decision, establish what the decision must accomplish—including how it is to be measured and how stakeholders must be aligned for it to succeed.
  • Set aside enough time to make good decisions. Fast decisions are often bad ones.
  • Start with what’s right—not what’s acceptable—and realize many good decisions go against the grain and “The same old way.”
  • Convert decisions into action. No decision is a good decision until it has been fully implemented. Otherwise, it is just an intention.

Organizations large and small are prone to drifting. A small nascent organization is just as likely as a corporate behemoth to “fly by the seat of its pants, or rely on gut feel.” Implement a decision making process and you’re less likely to wake up one day with a mess on your hands wondering, “How did we come up with that?”

Jim

Lucavìa
gojimlucas@lucavia.com
lucavia.com
(925) 980-7871

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© Copyright Jim Lucas 2007-2013 All Rights Reserved