Decision Funnel or Tree?
Are you creating a decision funnel?
A cylindrical, cone-shaped device. The matter is poured into a wide opening and released through a smaller more precise spout.
A great way to get a quantity of matter into a new receptacle through a small hole.
A not so good tool to keep things moving in a smooth and timely manner as the small end opening often restricts flow.
The smaller opening can also become clogged and the material being poured in can spill wasted on the ground.
I believe leaders have to be conscious of creating a decision funnel that slows productivity, creativity, and innovation. Doing so could also lead to low employee engagement and innovation.
That’s a strong statement and know I am not suggesting a leader relinquish all decision making. However, when the perception is ‘all decisions have to go through the ‘big boss’’ team members could be frustrated.
Think about it, you have put a great staff in place promising execution through the lens of collaboration. However, ALL the ideas have to run through the filter of upper management. At times there seems to even be a cap at the bottom of the funnel only opened on rare occasions, causing a plethora of ideas to swirl until the team has lost interest.
The result of a decision funnel leads a team to feel frustrated often silencing ideas.
In Susan Scott’s book Fierce Conversations, she lays out a better visual for decision making and empowering all levels of the team to ideate and create. She calls it the Decision Tree.
Her premise, every organization has countless decisions made daily, weekly and monthly. For each position, a clear outline of decisions that an employee is empowered to make by themselves or with the help of others will help move the organization forward efficiently. Here is how Scott describes it in her book:
“Leaf Decisions” Make the decision. Act on it. Do not report the action.
“Branch Decisions” Make the decision. Act on it. Report the action you took.
“Trunk Decisions"Make the decision. Report your decision before you take action.
“Root Decisions” Make the decision jointly, with input from many people. These are decisions that if made poorly could upset the whole organization.
Defining these levels of decision making within an organization can go a long way to empowering employees and giving them a sense of ownership.
Granted this will not be an easy process to define, especially in a large organization or even leadership team. But when you do you come away with:
Set boundaries.
Empowered employees within a framework.
Celebration of creativity and initiative.
The ability to let others take responsibility for a piece of the company.
And it gives leaders at all levels the freedom to say: "that is your decision to make.”
What a contrast between a decision funnel and decision tree.
