Did you make a stupid decision because others kept quiet?

Your Friday Trigger Question (tq105)

You're the boss. (Don't be coy. You know every manager must act a bit of boss to be effective.)

Because you're the boss, you get to make decisions. And because you're the boss, you get to decide based on incomplete data, with suspect information, resulting in uncertain outcomes. Mostly you get to make decisions on your own. Alone.

That's your job. You get that, don't you?

But doesn't it get to you when you make a poor decision only to find out that other people had information that would have changed your mind? Other people like colleagues and subordinates. People you thought were on your side.

So what do you do next? Do you blame them? Or do you admit that something is wrong with... hmm... let's call it your "culture." (Culture is just a word for the-way-we-do-things-here.)

Maybe you have created a team where you label the person who critically assesses ideas an obstructionist. Where the one who speaks the truth is undiplomatic. Where the expert hired for her knowledge is told that we’ve always done it this way. And where you promote the one who agrees with you and tells you what you like to hear.

Maybe you designed a jungle where you make stupid decisions because others are unwilling to speak up and against.

Maybe, just perchance, you did this unwittingly. Because you must rely on incomplete data, suspect information, and very human humans.

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Your Friday Trigger Question:

Did you make a stupid decision because others kept quiet?

Welcome to my side of the nonsense culture divide.

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For more, see the blog post #4 Why nonsense happens at work