What's wrong with decision rights
They no longer equip senior executives to maintain the conditions for success
“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them”. — Laurence J. Peter 1
The role of senior executives has always been to create and maintain conditions for organisational success.
In the relatively stable and predictable past, senior executives achieved this objective by focusing on decision making.
This has such a long history that still to this day the terms “senior executives” and “decision makers” are seen as synonymous.
In an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world, can senior executives create and maintain the conditions for success by holding onto their “decision rights”?
That’s the question addressed in this 8 minute Future-Fit Culture Frequently Asked Questions video…
Steve Jobs
In the video above I reference the following interaction between Steve Jobs and WSJ technology columnist Walt Mossberg at the 2010 All Things Digital conference.
Here’s Jobs describing how he remains closely involved in, but doesn’t dominate, decision making: 2
Jobs: “What I do all day is meet with teams of people, and work on ideas and solve problems to make new products to make new marketing programs whatever it is.”
Mossberg: “And are people willing to tell you you’re wrong?”
Jobs: “Oh yeah!”
Mossberg: “I mean other than snarky journalists. I mean people that work for you?”
Jobs: “Oh yeah — we have wonderful arguments”.
Mossberg: “And do you win them all?”
Jobs: “Oh no. I wish I did. No, see you can’t. If you want to hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decisions and you have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have to win, otherwise good people don’t stay.”
Mossberg: “But you must be more than a facilitator who runs meetings, you obviously contribute your own ideas?”
Jobs: “I contribute ideas – sure. Why would I be there if I didn’t?”
I also reference this previous article exploring why senior executives must give up their ‘decision rights’:
Questions for reflection
How well is your organisation creating and maintaining the necessary conditions for success in an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world?
To what extent do senior executives still behave in line with the increasingly outdated legacy understanding of their role as “decision making” and owning “decision rights”?
What are you doing to help the organisation create and maintain future-fit conditions for success?
From the 24th September entry in Peter's Almanac (1982) by Laurence Johnston Peter (1919 —1990). Peter was a Canadian educator best known for the Peter Principle — people tend to be promoted until they reach their level of incompetence. The 1969 book The Peter Principle by L.J. Peter and Raymond Hull was intended as satire, but became popular as it accurately reflected many people’s lived experience of organisational reality.
The above segment is at 62 minutes into the 96 minute recording of the conference. To go directly to that segment click here.