The Decision is Right, but is it Correct?

Decision making is complex. But they are the most important aspects of running a business or indeed, in personal lives. As Emanuel James Rohn, an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker said, “you cannot make progress without making decisions.”

After a few weeks in class, I have come to understand that most, if not all of the courses at the Lagos Business School’s Executive MBA programme are designed to facilitate effective and efficient decision making. Some of the courses, like Corporate Financial Accounting, help learners understand the sources and meaning of the data required for most quantitative business analyses. Others like Data Analytics help learners acquire the tools required to analyze the quantitative data. Analysis of Business Problems on the other hand help with synthesizing and interpreting the analyzed data, together with available qualitative information, to support a conclusion. And then there is Management Communication which teaches optimal ways to transmit the message to the required audience in a way that facilitates effective decision making.

But given the data, the analytical tools and frameworks, how do you ensure that you reach the right decision? Indeed, as one of my undergraduate Professors once said, “the right decision is not always the correct decision.” What is the difference and how does one ensure that the decision thy make is not only the ‘right’ one but also the ‘correct’ decision? It turns out you cannot be sure if a decision is correct at the time a decision is being made, it is the outcome and the passage of time that determines whether it was the correct decision or not, if the favoured decision alternative achieves the intended outcome. The decision maker may be right, but too early or circumstances may subsequently evolve adversely. Peter Drucker once observed that, “whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” He should perhaps have indicated that the courageous decision should also be ‘correct’.

So if we cannot tell if it is correct, at least how do we tell or ensure it is at least right? Phillip Calvin McGraw, the American television personality, author and talk show host better known as Dr. Phil said, “sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.” That seems to imply some randomness to decision making. However, the crux of course, Analysis of Business Problems, is how to ‘make the decision right’ all the time. The course posits that there are frameworks that decision makers can use to ensure they arrive at the right decision all the time, given reliable and sufficient information.

The Analysis of Business Problems teaches two decision making frameworks, the seven-step model and the PrOACT model, which when used correctly and contextually to evaluate any decision problem, significantly improves the chances of arriving at the right decision. Of course, this assumes that the quality of the information, the depth of analysis and the critical evaluation of the options will be conducted.

In addition, incremental decision-making helps build experience, and the instinct developed helps improve the future decision making. Malcolm Gladwell is a bestselling author and journalist said it best when he said, “truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.”