The Decision Dilemma

Quentin SaLay, Vice President Human Resources at Comcast, and Tara Galvin, Head of Transformation and Operational Excellence at Comcast

My colleague and co-author Tara Galvin and I are excited to present you with a three-part series entitled The Decision Dilemma. In this world of vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, business leaders are challenged with complicated problems that require the best decisions at a fast pace. We will present you with a toolbox of techniques and methods to advance your decision-making abilities that give you the best possible result.

Fighting Decision Fatigue

Is there any more agitating question than “What should we have for dinner?” after a long day? This simple decision is the source of angst and argument amongst partners to the point where the memes, jokes, and even scientific research behind it are abundant. The choice of pasta and pork chops has sent executives and leaders from all industries into a tailspin of exhaustion and frustration for good reason. It’s not about what’s for dinner, but rather how many decisions one person can make during the day before breaking. Decision fatigue is real, and we’re going to talk about what it looks like and ways to overcome it.

The average adult makes around 35,000 decisions per day, which means during waking hours, your brain is processing close to 2,000 decisions per hour. In an article from the American Medical Association, decision fatigue symptoms are described as brain fog, physical exhaustion, and a sense of being mentally drained. Sound relatable, especially at suppertime? While many decisions are unconscious, at this volume, it becomes easy to understand why we struggle to make all the decisions we need at work and home.

Our brains react to decision fatigue in a variety of ways, and research uncovered that people's impulse control weakens as we make more decisions throughout the day. This manifests as procrastination, impulsivity, avoidance, and indecision. In many instances, you may find that the default option, meaning the option with the lowest level of cognitive effort, becomes the choice. Your brain is hitting the easy button, even when easy isn’t always the best.

"Decision frameworks help you organize, process, and ultimately decide when there is a lot to consider."

Decision fatigue impacts businesses and our global economy every day, resulting in decreased profitability, slowed speed to market, projects going over time and budget, lower motivation, and diminished confidence in leadership from employees. And you can add your own examples to this list. In research conducted by The Royal Society Open Science, the impact of decision fatigue compounds throughout the day, leading to the afternoon being a particularly challenging time to make thoughtful and logical decisions. As a leader, you’re undoubtedly familiar with this feeling, and you may have tried to cure it with a cup of coffee or stretching your legs. But now that you know there’s data behind the dilemma, we can offer solutions to overcoming it.

Here are three ways to combat decision fatigue:

Make Your Morning Matter

Rise and shine… and make decisions! Science supports that the morning is the best time for our brains to process information and make decisions. If you have big business decisions, be intentional about scheduling time early in the day to intake data that informs your choice and commit to making decisions. Your self-control is at a high for the day during this time, unlocking decisiveness and objectivity. Research also indicates that increased cognitive function and impulse control can lead to more time being needed to make decisions in the morning, so plan accordingly and block the time.

Prioritization is Power

It sounds simple, but we all know how hard it is for an organization to have clear priorities. As Harvard professor Frances Frei explains, “If everything is your priority, nothing is your priority.” Determining your business priorities takes hard work upfront. It requires collaboration, negotiations between teams or partners, alignment, and clarity of vision. Put the time into doing this well - it will serve as a strong foundation for you to make great decisions, and it will unlock delegating decisions to teammates closer to the action who now have a shared understanding of the scope for decision-making via the priorities.

Frameworks Fast Track Decision Making

Decision frameworks help you organize, process, and ultimately decide when there is a lot to consider. These frameworks will be the focus of our next article, and in their simplest form, they serve as distilling mechanisms that can counter decision fatigue while also mitigating bias. Whether it’s a decision tree, funnel, or matrix, these tools promote transparent and consistent decision that accounts for a broad range of factors. It will facilitate your process and free up space in your brain!

So, the next time you’re debating between sushi and salad, or whether expansion to a new market makes sense, or if investing in developing an existing product is the right move – check in with yourself and see if you’re suffering from decision fatigue. Then, set your brain up for success using the three steps above and you’ll be on your way to making great decisions!