3 Strategies to Make Confident Business Decisions in Uncertain Times
Good decision making is a hallmark of any serious business founder. Whether it be making a tough call based on little information, to deciding what tasks to prioritise each day (which themselves can be further broken down into sub-decisions about what tasks need to be completed to begin with!).
Unlike the decisions all of us make every day, many thousands of times, the decisions of business founders can hold a lot more weight, where outcomes can affect careers, revenue and even the livelihoods of stakeholders in the company.
If that doesn't sound tricky enough, in fast-changing business environments, decision-making can come under even more strain when a business owner is facing additional challenges, whether they be internal or external.
So, what are some strategies to help business founders make better decisions during tough times?
Focus on the Present
When you’re facing abnormal challenges, it can be easy to escalate their potential impact in your mind, where suddenly it's not just cashflow issues, it’s cashflow issues that lead to bankruptcy which lead to losing your house!
The famous stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelis, would interrupt here to say “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
In simpler terms, he expresses that the way we perceive our problems is often more concerning than the problem itself.
So, to make better decisions, think about what you can do in the present, whether that be over the next day or the next week.
When you focus on the present, you are likely to gain more confidence making decisions today when they don’t feel as threatening. You will start to appreciate how many decisions you make on a daily basis. Maybe, you’ll even start thinking, I’m actually alright at this.
This will give you the confidence to make future, and bigger, decisions. And while confidence may not be the first feature you associate with decision making, research suggests that it’s a key component, because founders must ultimately make decisions without certainty about whether they will be the right ones.
Staying present-focussed suggests breaking your big decisions down into smaller ones, ones that you can start making today or tomorrow, not worrying about the ones that come a month down the track.
Focus on Control
Often the challenges we face are perceived as such because they are related to a lack of control. Whether it be a global pandemic or economic uncertainty, founders can really get thrown in the deep end.
In order to make decisions confidently, we must focus on what we can control, reducing wasted time spent stewing on what we can’t change, no matter how much time we dedicate to wishing otherwise.
So why not write down the outcomes your decision will influence alongside the outcomes or factors that will remain fixed, no matter the decision you make. This audit is likely to give you more confidence to choose the best option when the facts are laid out before you.
Say No to Standby
Decision-making in tough times may make you want to throw the towel in and fold to inaction. But remember that inaction is still a decision and certainly one that won’t get you any closer to your desired outcomes.
Founders can sometimes get stuck over-analysing the decisions before them, fittingly called analysis paralysis. Psychologists attribute it to the understandable fear of making the wrong choice.
In order to reduce this decision making dilemma, accept that there are no right answers. Try not to delay decisions any more than you need to, even when facing reduced information. There’s hardly ever a right time to make them.
But, all this isn’t to say be rash. It is to say be confident making a decision while implementing the previous two strategies of focussing both on the present and what you can control to avoid delay.
Key Takeaways
Stay focussed on the present by breaking your big decisions into smaller ones that you can make every day, building your decision making confidence.
Focus only on the outcomes your decisions can impact, not uncontrollable factors that you can’t easily predict.
Reduce indecision by implementing the previous two points and avoid delaying decisions in hope of the right time coming along.