How to Make Decisions

The Art of Decision-making by Seth Godin from my notes of Leadercast by Chick-fil-a.

Lot's of great thoughts and easily tweetable one-liners.

Discover that leadership means making decisions. Leaders must be willing to answer the following questions:

• Will I accept what is and what will be? Willing to acknowledge reality, and make decisions based on that reality. Don't be like newspaper industry, ignoring how business is changing.
• Temptation is to see what we are hoping for, not what is.
• Are you invisible or remarkable? Making average stuff for average people (make everything “good enough”) rather than customizing and making unique.
• Are we willing to earn the right to whisper rather than yell? We have to stop yelling at our audience, and earn the right to start whispering to them.
• Are you in the story business or fact business? We purchase, decide, join based on the story we tell ourselves and what we believe/ our bias.
• Will we defend past or adapt to invent future? Do you resist future, because you’re happy where you are? How do you need to adapt/ invent future? Get rid of hammer, so that you have many tools rather than only a hammer.
• Thinking inside vs. outside box: in box- really dark. At edge of box is where innovation happens- poke edge. Won’t get ovations every time you get to edge- usually experience resistance. Action is on the fringe, edge of box.
• Lesson from Ford: Interchangeable parts = interchangeable people. Can run a factory making average stuff for average people. BUT if personal, custom needs irreplaceable people doing work we can’t imagine, dependent on people who work for you.
• Be the organization you want to buy from, invest in, join.
• Hard work is scary because it takes guts.
• Leading is scary because it means giving up control.
• Are you in business of complying or inspiring? We don't need more compliance, we need better decisions
• Management produces status quo. Leadership is innovation.
• Difference between scarcity and abundance. Either accountant doing things over again or an artist creating uniqueness. Artists use skill to do work worth doing, have difficult discussions. If you take responsibility, then people will allow you to be irreplaceable. Stand out rather than fit in.
• Do something no one else is willing to do.