Page 30 - PR Communication Age - JUNE 2016
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THE ART OF DECISION MAKING
T he understanding of decision desirable as the default style for a University) and Jack B. Soll (Duke Uni-
making has moved far from leader. versity), published in the Organiza-
the classic rational model- tional Behavior And Human Decision
which assumed that decision It is important to understand the role Processes journal in November 2011,
making is a logical process-to encom- of power on a leader's decision-making provides some interesting insights
pass the impact of numerous factors. style-scientific experiments on the im- based on a series of experiments in
These include the involvement of emo- pact of perceived power on decision which participants were given a
tions, energy, physical state, environ- making have thrown up some impor- chance to review their decisions after
ment, cognitive biases and more. tant results. Being in a position of receiving external advice.
power has been found to affect the
Social psychologist R.F. Baumeister fa- quality of decision making in these High-power holders underperformed
mously said, "Good decision making is ways: on accuracy tasks since they dis-
not a trait. It's a state that fluctuates." counted both expert and non-expert
While he said this in a different con- * Power leads to an inflated belief in advice, giving higher weightage to
text, the words capture the capricious- the accuracy of one's judgement and their own initial judgement. Individu-
ness of decision making which, as we knowledge. Most leaders have as- als who were neutral or non-aligned to
continue to discover, is influenced by cended to power by virtue of the sound the high/low power extremes reached
many variables. judgements they made at various a higher level of accuracy by correct-
points in their journey. This could give ing themselves on the basis of expert
The interplay of leadership and deci- leaders an exaggerated perception of advice.
sion making has been the subject of their assessment
many studies, given the inherent ex- capabilities and
pectations of quality from leaders. make them less re-
Since the decisions leaders make often ceptive to advice
serve as benchmarks for others. and external in-
puts.
Decision-making styles range from au-
thoritarian to consensus building. Re- A paper by Kelly E.
search has found that there are more See (New York Uni-
leaders at the extremes of the spec- versity), Elizabeth
trum than at the consultative median. Wolfe Morrison
While every point in this spectrum is (New York Univer-
relevant based on scenarios and de- sity), Naomi B.
sired outcomes, neither extreme is Rothman (Lehigh
Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
30 PR COMMUNICATION AGE June 2016
