How ‘Who You Know’ Affects What You Decide
By Rob Cross, Robert J. Thomas and David A. Light
January 9, 2009
Informal decision networks – both within teams and throughout organizations – can systematically bias the way decisions are framed and carried out. Here”s how to build your networks right.
There is no Shortage of high profile examples of bad business decisions. Less well-known but just as insidious is the large number of good decisions that go bad. Frequently these decisions are premised on good ideas that garner support but then somehow get lost, sidetracked or even reversed en route from approval to execution. Bad decisions and poor decision-making processes are a big drain on management time, waste precious resources (often not detected on any balance sheet) and put a serious crimp on innovation. Over the years, researchers have attempted to understand the reasons for these failures. Many have focused on problems inherent to small groups: bad chemistry, ineffective leadership, failed group processes, groupthink and more.
1 Psychologists, for their part, have highlighted “cognitive biases” — for example, the overconfidence of decision makers and their tendency to discount alternative viewpoints.
2 Although such factors are certainly important, researchers have largely overlooked another significant explanation for the problem: the role networks play, both within a team and throughout an organization, in the way decisions are framed and how they are carried out.
The leading question
How do informal networks in organizations affect the ways decisions are framed and executed?
Findings
- Leaders often try to rectify inefficient and ineffective decision making by increasing collaboration.
- Leaders are often blind to the way their own informal... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.
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