by Dr. Steve Payne
I have spent considerable column space already discussing
the first and second steps in a strategic process for making key career and
life decisions. It seems time to
introduce the very important third step of actually making these decisions. I’ll start with some tips, and things to
avoid, in strategic decision making.
Strategy implementation is critical to a choice of
strategies. Depending upon actually how one might be able to undertake a
strategy, even what might seem to be an outstanding strategic option could be a
poor choice. Knowledge of personal
interests and skills, and the interests and skills of those who might be
recruited to support or supplement your efforts, should inform strategic choice. What might at first appear in strategic
analysis to be a good choice as a strategy might not fully capture one’s personal
enthusiasm or passion, or those of others involved, in implementing this
choice. Participant motivation or
enthusiasm for alternatives should be strongly factored into strategic choice. Obtaining accurate knowledge of personal
goals, values, and characteristics (Step 1) informs better choice of strategies
(Step 3).
Strategic decisions are subject to perceptual and decision
making biases of individuals. Strategic
choices can turn out to be poor ones due to common perceptual biases or flaws
that almost everyone can make occasionally.
For example, a common perceptual bias is an “actor-observer” bias. The same event or result can be perceived
quite differently in terms of its strategic significance depending upon whether
one is directly involved with an event versus someone who is an observer only
of that same event.
There are other types of perceptual and decision biases flaws
that can also be committed. One type of
bias is known as escalation of commitment.
It occurs when an option that has been selected in a past decision continues
to be evaluated highly and is chosen in a later decision even when recent events
or information make this option less than the best one. Emotional commitment, and perhaps an unwillingness
to admit a mistake, can cause many people to continue to endorse a decision option
that is no longer a good choice.
Among personal characteristics that affect strategic choice,
one of the more important is an individual’s risk propensity. Some people are “risk seekers” who tend to
minimize or dismiss the possibility of negatives associated with a decision
option and/or they can exaggerate or magnify the possibility or the amount of
benefits of an option. There are also
“risk avoiders” who have the completely opposite orientation toward risk. Certain checks or controls, such as avoiding
a rush to judgment as well as decision review by others who are knowledgeable,
can help reduce perceptual and decision biases in strategic choice.
Strategies should not be set in concrete. A strategy provides some needed direction or
guidance for individuals based upon an assessment of internal and external
realities. However, realities change
over time, and our assessments of these influences certainly are often far from
perfectly accurate. When conditions
shift significantly, then strategies need to be re-examined and shifted as
well. One example of this is what many
have observed in pro or college football games.
A coach develops a game strategy based upon assessment of team strengths
and weaknesses, as well as evaluation of perceived threats and opportunities
from observing what the opponent possesses and has done previously. Through the early part of the game, this
coach’s strategy is carried out and it is also being evaluated. Perhaps the strategy is working well as the
team is successfully implementing these plans, and this strategy is continued
then through the later stages of the game.
It is also possible that the game strategy is not that successful,
perhaps because the other team acts or reacts in ways that weren’t
anticipated. Often we hear that a coach
during halftime changes parts of the game strategy to fit better the actual conditions
that exist and the consequences that have occurred.
Strategic choice and its implementation deserve much more
discussion than just this introduction and a few basic tips. Both this third step and a key final step in
a strategic process for making career and life decisions will be topics in
future columns.
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