5 Strategies to Make Confident Decisions
It can be hard to make a confident decision. Whether you have been asked to create a new strategy to grow a business, or find an innovative new product idea to disrupt a category, you may be suck trying to make a decision. You
may be bogged down by letting self-doubt delay your decision-making process, or looking for data that will make the decisions for you, because it’s easy to get sidetracked never-ending quest to the “answer.”
Unfortunately, regardless of the cause, these setbacks delay opportunities and sometimes cause companies to miss the opportunity completely. Sometimes the only way forward is to assess the options and decide.
Here Are 5 Strategies to Make Confident Decisions:
Here are 5 strategies to make confident decisions:
- Think of Every Angle
Think of as many different ways as possible to solve the business problem. Do not get particularly invested in any of them, just jot down as many solutions as possible. Get inspired any way you can. This could include learning online, talking with consumers, or discussing with coworkers.
- Asses Business Problem from an Alternative Perspective
Many of us suffer from solving problems the same way repeatedly, it’s a learned behavior. Pretend the first answer you come to does not exist and try to find alternative ways to solve the same problem. Though you may fall back on the original idea, the thought process may yield some new angles or implementation ideas.
- Utilize Your Network to Get Outside Feedback
Many leaders in the same organization look at a problem similarly, so asking them for feedback may yield the same thoughts you had when you started the decision process. Look for trusted leaders and friends at non-competing organizations to get feedback the business problem or plan you are hoping to implement. They will look at it with fresh eyes and fresh thinking.
- Try to Make Your Idea Shorter
It is easy to get excited about the options you’re considering or your solution and create huge power points to express the options. To evaluate the idea, try to make it as small as possible. Can it fit on one slide, half a slide, the back of a business card? The best solutions are simple, straight forward, and can be easily expressed. If your idea still takes a deck, it is a good idea to get feedback from others to find the core concepts that drives the idea
- Think of the worst-case outcome, can it be avoided
When making a large decision, it can be easy to get slowed down by thinking through scenarios of “what ifs” and worst cases. This is another fantastic opportunity to ask your network or colleagues for their thoughts on worst-cases and probabilities. You may learn of new watch outs you had not thought of and may realize how unlikely the worst-case scenarios will be. For many business decisions, the worst case is that the idea did not work, so you can learn from the attempt and try again.
Connect With Others
After following these steps, you should have a very well vetted idea so you can make a confident decision. At many points throughout the process, the next step is to seek outside input. It is difficult to feel confident about a decision if you are working in isolation.
Events that bring colleagues together from across the industry can be the best opportunity to get feedback on new strategies and ideas. Peer Groups and tradeshows are a great opportunity to connect with colleagues for informal idea discussions. Peer groups offer ongoing opportunities for members to connect at group meetings and anytime with ongoing moderated discussions over zoom or email. Peer group also offer networking opportunities for their members to connect and have informal conversations about their businesses. Well run Peer Groups facilitate energetic discussions to bring out the best ideas from members to ensure everyone can return to their companies to make confident decisions.
