Decision making in business

To kick off the first episode for my new Monday segment Monday Mindset we're talking about decision making in business to help you figure out your next best step.

In this episode I'll take you through:

1) The decision making challenges entrepreneurs face

2) The 5 styles of decision making

3) The 7-step decision making process

4) 3 more decision making models

5) Goal-setting and how to set SMART goals in your business

If you prefer to read and watch rather than listen - keep scrolling down for my walk through of each of these ideas in today's blog post.

The decision making challenges we face

In 2020 there were some unique challenges we faced as entrepreneurs and business owners but as the year dawns on 2021 I want to focus on the common global challenges we face as entrepreneurs (and humans!) when it comes to decision making in business.

Challenge 1: Idealistic to a fault

As visionaries, creatives and deep thinkers who are open to ideas that disrupt the status quo we can get pretty dedicated to our work.

Many of us are prepared to work long hours to bring about the change we want to see in the world and we can have a hard time with creating a sustainable way of life for ourselves and the people who come along for the ride with us.

An unsustainable way of life isn't the only problem of being too idealistic. It can also be what stops us from facing our problems head on.

The results from a 2014 study by the CT corporation revealed that whilst there is a strong desire amongst many millennials to start and grow a business, many felt they wouldn't in fact be capable of successfully launching a business.

This study was discussed in a Bplans article: The millennial entrepreneur: Idealistic or realistic? highlighting how we may indeed be getting in our own way when it comes to getting our business off the ground.

I've witnessed this numerous times and have fallen into this trap myself because it is in the pursuit of perfection we sacrifice momentum. Instead of moving forward, failing and learning in the process we get stuck, we procrastinate, we over plan and we give up before we've even really begun.

Below is the infographic put together by Bplans highlighting the aspirations, barriers and attitudes of millennials towards entrepreneurship.

Challenge 2: Unrealistic expectations

When we are too idealistic we will set unrealistic expectations about what it is we should accomplish.

For instance we might say to ourselves "we want to be the number 1 online destination for customers looking for <insert solution we provide> 3 months from launching."

But the thing is...why would we think this is possible? What reason do we have to set this goal for ourselves?

Challenge 3: Ambivalence in decision making

We've all experienced that desire to have our cake and eat it too.

When we're unclear about the direction where heading in we can outline conflicting objectives that simply cannot co-exist together.

I heard a great one from a family member just this week, our conversation went something like this:

Them: "Lauren it's raining, so I want to hang out but I don't want to be stuck inside"

Me: "Ok, how about we go for a walk around the park and get a coffee then?"

Them: "No, but I don't want to be outside because it's raining"

Me: "Ok, well how about you come over to mine for a tea?"

Them: "No, I'm so sick of being in the house, I don't want to be stuck inside doing nothing"

It sounds crazy right? But from time-to-time we all do this. And when things get more nuanced and complicated like they so often do in business, it can be trickier to spot.

Here's a common discussion I have with prospects:

Them: "Since we started our business 5 years ago, we've pretty much solely relied on sales activities to grow our business. Whilst we have predictable revenue, we are not seeing year-on-year growth."

Me: "Yes, mathematically speaking this makes sense and is a common problem. What we need to focus on now is adding brand building activities to grow your reputation in market"

Them: "Yes, this is exactly what we want to do."

Me: "Ok great. It will take at least 6 months before we start to see a strong and reliable return on investment on brand-building activities, but from there, brand & business science tells us that you'll start to see that these activities will become the primary driver for growth in your business."

Them: "So what will happen in the first 3 months?"

Me: "The first 3 months we'll be focusing on brand building activities like...<Outline brand building plan & associated fees>"

Them: "Ok so, what revenue and leads will I generate from these activities in the first 3 months?"

Me: "Your sales activities will generate leads in those 3 months as it won't be long enough for brand building activities to start generating predictable results."

Them: "Ok, I think we need to just focus on sales activities for now, as we really need to generate more income over the next 3 months."

Me: "But isn't that the same as what you've been doing for the past 5 years?"

Challenge 4: The perfect solution fallacy

If you're getting quote after quote after quote but not committing to implementing a solution then chances are you're probably searching for something that doesn't exist: the perfect solution.

The quest for a silver bullet is so common in business that many business service providers will use the fallacy to their advantage - ie. they present their solution as THE solution to ALL of our business problems and reinforce our belief in the silver bullet in order to make a sale.

Or, to put it another way - they overpromise and underdeliver.

As you can probably guess, that's a great way to get new clients through your door, but it creates a whole heap of problems downstream when clients are delivered a solution that feels unsatisfactory. Even if the solution is a good or great one, customers may feel disappointed because the expectation is for perfection, not "good" or "great".

Now that we've discussed some of the common challenges we face, let's talk about strategies to overcome them.

The 5 styles of decision making

It's important for us to understand the styles of decision making we currently use and other types of decision making that can be more helpful in empowering us to grow our brand and business.

In the whiteboard video below I'll take you through the two styles that are most beneficial to us - the rational style and the intuitive style of decision making.

I'll also talk you through the 3 other types of decision making that we use but get in the way of us making our best and most informed decision. These are dependent, avoidant and spontaneous decision making.

Ps. The links I refer to in the podcast episode are:

1) The Neuroscience of Intuition with Brian Fretwell

2) Ep. 1 of Season 4: How to be consistent and win more clients

3) My Youtube video on 16 Personalities Myers Briggs personality assessment and how to interpret your results

4) For regular listeners, please consider supporting me and the work I do to put this show together on ko-fi here.

5) Find me on twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenkress89

Ps. Yes! I do offer 1-on-1 business coaching and consulting to help you grow your brand and business, but I only take on a few clients at a time. To find out if I'm available right now or to go on my waiting list for future coaching opportunities send me a message directly on LinkedIn.