Marcia Blenko, leader of Bain & Company's Global Organization Practice, discusses how companies can make better and faster decisions in her 2010 interview with Harvard Business Review. Blenko is a perfect example of an external OD practitioner because she is brought in to an organization from the outside to assess and develop them. These external practitioners bring a fresh perspective to the organization, can be more objective, and are less likely to be biased or feel pressure from the organization’s leadership since they do not fall within the hierarchy. Blenko just touches on how to improve and increase the speed of decisions in her interview by briefly outlining a five-step process that includes the following:
1. Understand how well the organization is making decisions.
2. Identify the critical decisions.
3. Take the critical decisions and use a what, who, how, when approach to implementing a plan.
4. Make sure the entire organization supports the individual decisions.
5. Embed throughout the organization.
Blenko also suggests that decision effectiveness has a positive correlation to employee engagement and organizational performance. She states that “companies, where it’s easier to make decisions and get things done, are more stimulating places for employees to work” (1:43). While Blenko has revealed data to support her argument, she also admits that this correlation should come as no surprise and common sense should tell us that better decisions will lead to positive outcomes regarding employees and the organization as a whole. However, many organizations struggle to obtain a culture of better decision-making leading to high levels of employee engagement and organizational performance. Some barriers preventing this culture may include people not being clear about who makes the decision, the right information not being communicated to the proper decision maker, leadership behaviors such as not engaging issues until after decisions are made, or individuals in the roles to make decisions lacking talent (Harvard Business Review, 2010). In addition to Blenko’s list of impediments, I also think that the level of accountability and potential consequences of the decision-maker would tend to be significant factors of the quality and speed in the decision-making process. For example, Kopeikina (2006) claims that “leaders are paid to select strategies that increase value to shareholders, increase sales and improve effectiveness — strategies that will deliver the best consequences for the business. All business decisions are usually made with these major objectives in mind. However, no one can fully foresee the consequences of a decision at the moment he or she is making it. The market, along with other forces, can interfere and change the environment. As a result, many managers are paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong choice” (para. 1).
Speaking of quality and speed, Blenko suggests that the four elements of good decisions are quality, speed, yield, and effort. I racked my brain trying to think of additional elements missing from her list and any additional element that came to mind could already fit into her list. Except one; feedback. It could possibly fall into the quality element because seeking feedback will lead to a quality decision. However, feedback should be sought out whenever time is not a factor and I view it as an essential element to making good decisions. This exercise has taught me the value of Blenko’s four elements leading to a good decision and will assist me in applying these elements in my personal and professional life. Additionally, it has also validated my suspicion that increase employee engagement correlates to good decisions throughout the organization and is essential to its overall positive performance.
References
Harvard Business Review. (2010, October 13). How companies can make better decisions, faster. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbxpg6D4Hk8
Kopeikina, L. (2006, January 6). The Elements of a Clear Decision. Retrieved from https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-elements-of-a-clear-decision/
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