{"id":742,"date":"2016-07-20T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=742"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:23","slug":"smart-people-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/smart-people-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhy Do Smart People Fail?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Decision-making and leadership are two CEO skills inextricably entwined.\u00a0 It\u2019s true that you can be a world class decision-maker and still be a lousy leader . . . that is, you can be a great decision-maker but still have other behavioral characteristics that disqualify you as a great leader.\u00a0 However, the\u00a0 reverse is not true.\u00a0 You can\u2019t be a great leader and a lousy decision-maker.\u00a0 The two characteristics are mutually exclusive.\u00a0 After all, who\u2019s going to follow someone whose decisions are consistently flawed and who frequently sends us down the wrong path.\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say that great leaders can\u2019t make decisions that turn out badly.\u00a0 Nobody bats a thousand.\u00a0 But it does say that great leaders need to follow a decision-making process<\/u><\/em> that is consistent, understood, and trusted by those he or she is trying to lead.\u00a0 When you make a decision that results in an unwanted outcome, you want your people to say, \u201cHey, based on the information we had at the time, it was a reasonable decision.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t turn out the way we wanted it to, but given the same circumstances, we\u2019d probably make the same decision again.\u201d\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, your standing as a leader is relatively unscathed.\u00a0 On the other hand, if your people feel that the decision was made in haste, that the boss shot from the hip without proper forethought, your standing is going to take a hit.<\/p>\n

For more on avoiding bad decisions, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Do Smart People Fail?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the title of a book written by management consultant, keynote speaker, and author Norris Beren.\u00a0 In it, he uses the acronym CHOICES<\/em><\/strong> to describe seven decision-making rules that, when followed, will improve your decision-making process and reduce your risk of failure.\u00a0 Those rules are:<\/p>\n

C \u2013 Challenge Your Assumptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout your decision-making process, look for information and\/or opinions that would undermine your assumptions.\u00a0 Some businesses use this technique when considering a new product or service offering.\u00a0 They will write a business case for the new offering, and then do everything they can to tear holes in it.\u00a0 If they can tear legitimate holes in it, they kill the idea.\u00a0 If they can\u2019t, it goes forward.<\/p>\n

H \u2013 Honor Your Gut Instincts<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s generally not a good idea to make important decisions on gut instinct alone, sometimes your instincts are guiding you to pay attention to something that has not yet entered your conscious thought process.\u00a0 Pay attention to those instincts and probe them to see if there might be something substantive behind them.<\/p>\n

O \u2013 Overcome and Avoid Your Obsessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t become so obsessed with the outcome you envision from a decision you\u2019ve made that you blind yourself to danger signs.\u00a0 We\u2019ve often heard CEOs say, \u201cWe\u2019ve invested too much time, effort, and money in this to stop now.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a recipe for throwing good resources after bad.<\/p>\n

I \u2013 Ignore Your Ego<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all got one, right?\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t survive without one.\u00a0 Yet uncontrolled, our ego can get us into a lot of trouble.\u00a0 It will whisper to us that we are both brilliant and infallible, and that our decisions are beyond reproach.\u00a0 Where decision-making is concerned, as author Beren points out, humility trumps hubris.\u00a0 Invite others into your decision-making process and keep an open mind about their thoughts and suggestions.<\/p>\n

C \u2013 Confirm: Trust but Verify<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re dealing with reliable sources of information and opinion, don\u2019t be lulled into a false sense of security.\u00a0 Maintain a healthy level of skepticism.\u00a0 Whenever possible, seek to validate the information you\u2019re getting through secondary sources.\u00a0 When your mother says she loves you, check it out.<\/p>\n

E \u2013 Eliminate Your Emotions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tough to do.\u00a0 We are, after all, emotional creatures, so eliminating emotions may not be entirely possible.\u00a0 But we\u2019re also intelligent creatures, so we can be aware of our emotional baggage and consciously avoid allowing it to guide our decision-making process.\u00a0 Or, to say it another way, don\u2019t become so invested in a particular decision that you allow your emotions to overcome your good judgement.<\/p>\n

S \u2013 Select Your Exit Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ultimate decision for every business owner is deciding how and when to exit the business.\u00a0 Do you pass it on to your kids?\u00a0 Sell it to your employees?\u00a0 Sell it to a competitor?\u00a0 Keep it as a \u201ccash cow\u201d while you play golf and sit on the beach?\u00a0 These are just a few viable options among many others.\u00a0 The point is, your ultimate decision for leaving the business should be the filter that guides the decisions you make up until that point.\u00a0 In other words, while you\u2019re still active in the business and making an important strategic decision, you should ask yourself, \u201cWill the expected outcome of this decision support my exit strategy or undermine it?\u201d<\/p>\n

There you have them . . . the seven CHOICES <\/strong>you can make to insure your decision-making process is both sound and effective.\u00a0 If you would like more of the detail behind these seven rules, get \u201cWhy Do Smart People Fail?\u201d by Norris Beren.\u00a0 It\u2019s available on Amazon and includes a self-assessment tool aimed at helping you identify the rule(s) that you need to work on.<\/p>\n

Decide well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decision-making and leadership are two CEO skills inextricably entwined.\u00a0 It\u2019s true that you can be a world class decision-maker and still be a lousy leader . . . that is, you can be a great decision-maker but still have other behavioral characteristics that disqualify you as a great leader.\u00a0 However, the\u00a0 reverse is not true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,33,30,28,26,22,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}