Symptoms, Causes, and Cures of Poor Decisions

When groups make poor-quality decisions, one or more of the following symptoms may be in evidence:

Symptom 1: Aimless drifting and random discussions. The same topic is kicked around meeting after meeting without resolution. Feels like the group is spinning its wheels.

Cause: No plan or process for approaching the decision. Group members simply launch into the discussion without any thought to which tools to use. Without a systematic approach, people start proposing solutions before there has been a thorough analysis of the situation. There is a lack of proper information. Everyone puts his or her favorite solution on the table. No one takes notes. No solution is definitively agreed to. Detailed action plans aren’t written down.