Consequence Decision Making

Ever heard of consequence decision making? Probably not. If you are like most Americans or Canadians you have been to the school of "don't bring me a problem, bring me a solution."

I was at a class about 15 years ago when I heard that message and I just couldn't accept it. It was early in my career but I had been around long enough to know that I didn't see how bringing a bad solution was any better than brining a problem.

Every problem has multiple solutions. When someone can't solve a problem and they continually bring those problems to management (or others) to solve, it may not be a lack of solutions issue. It may be that they don't know how to think.

Recently I was with a consultant who works with 20 somethings. He mentioned that one of his biggest issues is these 20 somethings were so scheduled all their life, and their parents made all the strategic decision in their lives, that they don't know how to think strategically. This is a current problem. Now look at the educational system and see that since the Industrial Revolution, we have been educating people under core strengths manufacturing principles. That means we want everyone to know the exact same things. Ever hear of "common sense"?

So what does this mean? We are not teaching people to think. So, if I was told to give authority to a bunch of people who are not trained to think, by asking them to bring me solutions not problems, I would quit my job.

In the book Make the Noise Go Away - The Power of an Effective Second in Command, I address this problem with a different solution; The Consequence Worksheet.

I found that teaching people to think past problems and potential solutions and into the consequences of those solutions will make them much better problem solvers. One employee came to me a few years ago and asked me what to do about a client situation. I asked her to brainstorm as many solutions as possible based on the desired end result she wanted. Then I told her to come up with as many consequences (positive and negative) that she could for every solution. I told her to come back for help after she finished that small project.

She never came back! I went to her a few days later and asked her if she still needed help. She told me the solution was very clear when she went through the exercise. She also told me she was surprised that every solution had both positive and negative solutions, but it was very clear what to do when all consequences were listed side by side. If we teach our people how to think through problems to the consequences of possible solutions, we will make more of our noise go away.

The Consequence Worksheet can be found in Make the Noise Go Away - The Power of an Effective Second in Command. It is a powerful tool to make the noise go away!