How to Stick Your Decisions Every Time

The verdict is: “a cool head for good direction”. “A warm heart for strong action,” says David Matheson, President and CEO of SmartOrg, Inc.

I attended a talk by a successful founder and CEO of a SaaS marketing business generating more than $30MM ARR in Portland, OR. He left his audience with a few parting words, with something to the tune of mind your decisions. My mouth opened in shock, for I just haven’t heard too many 21st Century founders speak about the hygiene of their decisions. (I’ve worked as a strategist in a venture studio, which was home for a few vertical SaaS B2B startups, each startup had embedded Decision Quality throughout the innovation process.)

Now, how much more would mind your decisions relate to the Search Fund | EtA space? I’ve gone back to reflect more on this. In doing so, I reached out to David Matheson; he’s also a thought leader from the Society of Decision Professionals [See: Note 1]. When I met with him, he, too, had something, of course, to say about making better decisions. He asked something to the effect of “Howard, when you may be faced with not making payroll, what’s going to keep you? What is it about your decision in this endeavor that would still have you say, let’s say, ‘this was or is a good decision’?”

He touched on his team’s work that has been taught to current and future generations of decision professionals. They taught that people are not really moved to act or don’t make a real choice until “the pain [e.g., not making payroll] of the present is greater than the fear of the future”. He further said that he had no doubt that I and others figure out in this space the five W’s questioned and answered to owning and operating businesses. “That is the head part of any decision,” he said. Instead, he worried about whether the heart of each decision was right, or not.

He shared with me the misuses of Decision Quality, consisting of six pillars (e.g., Frame, Alternatives, Information, Values, Integration, and Commitment to Action). That, when practiced without the proper discipline, that something would get lost. He was trying to get me to understand that there must be critical alignment between a cool head and a warm heart to make great decisions.

For instance, here’s an excerpt from his team’s blog, which switches back and forth from the head to the heart and vice versa):

(1.) “A useful frame is one that helps us identify what to do next. A meaningful frame taps into our deepest identity and adds richness to our life and purpose.”

(2.) “Distinct and doable alternatives help us stay rooted in practicality. Creative and interesting alternatives hold our attention and inspire us to move forward.”

(3.) “Reliable and relevant information protects us from falling off the cliff with our emotions and agendas, while information that moves us and inspires us to explore a deeper part of ourselves gives us the impetus to be the change.”

(4.) “Preferences, metrics and tradeoffs all help to establish transparency and consistency in practical allocation and trading of resources [per extrinsic value], while intrinsic purpose helps us be clear about who we want to be [or become].”

(5.) “The head dimension of integration involves sound reasoning and compelling logic, while the heart dimension of integration is about developing an inspiring narrative and establishing community support around the decision.”

(6.) “Commitment to action has two elements – commitment and action. Action planning is more about logistics and planning, while commitment is more about riding the storm and staying true to one’s convictions, requiring, among other things, leadership and followership [or, in some cases, to use my word, fellowship]”.

        

To a layperson, all this may sound more like singing and holding hands around a campfire while real work is being done elsewhere. If this is your opinion, then, I would invite you to watch this 10-minute video of David Matheson talking to CEOs about his experience working as a strategist in the movie business – and, initially, missing the mark on the heart and soul of a key decision while wrangling (5.) Integration. It’s a funny story but a very real-world case when big bucks were at risk.

The takeaway here is not so much about how to stick to your decisions. This sticking-to-it-ness may be referred to as the grind. Rather, it’s about “how to make great decisions every time for lasting changes”, as SmartOrg, Inc., would champion.

In closing, I’ll leave you all with some things to ponder.

• How are we shepherding sellers/buyers to great decisions, with both our heads and our hearts?

• How are our customers getting to great decisions, with both their heads and hearts; to hire solutions for jobs that need to get done by our businesses?

• How do we really get our employees to perform extraordinarily well, with both their heads and hearts, after embracing the true clarity of great decisions?

Note 1. Ronald A. Howard (from the Stanford Decisions and Ethics Center), coined the term "Decision Analysis" in a Y1966 paper, kickstarting the field, which created the Decision Quality framework. He was a founding Director and Chairman of Strategic Decisions Group.