63 D Decision time At school we are taught to work by ourselves to answer pre-determined questions that have clear and logical answers. Any manager who hopes to succeed by working alone to solve pre-determined questions that have a clear answer is going to have a very long wait. As managers we have to answer uncertain questions where all our colleagues have clear but conflicting answers. So how can we make decisions effectively? Here are the basics of good decision making: Know what the question is. A good answer to `What is seven times six?' is `42'. For fans of Douglas Adams' novels, it is also the answer