Have A Say.

'Whatever you do in life, policy, politics, commodities, consumer stuff, make sure the voter understands there's some opportunity at least – whether they take it on – for them to have a say. 'Cause otherwise, what's the point?'

- Mark Textor, Political Campaign and Corporate Strategist

Step 5 of the Five Steps to a Good Decision is to Give a Hearing.

It's an opportunity for the 'voter' - the person who will be affected by your decision - to have a say.

Here's how you do it:

'Based upon the following information I'm considering making X decision that may cause Y to you. You are invited to give me any reasons why I should not make this decision. I will take your reasons into account when deciding what to do.'

It's more than a token gesture.

It allows the decision maker to hear what should be the most compelling argument against their decision by the person who has the most to lose. That person has the greatest incentive to present every possible counter-argument.

Their response is one of the best antidotes to groupthink.

If a decision maker is reluctant to show his decision making reasoning to a person who may suffer loss as a result of it, then it calls into question how confident he is of his argument.

A sign that it won't be a good decision.

The President Gives a Lesson on the Five Steps.

'Today the United States, together with our allies and partners, has reached a historic understanding with Iran which, if fully implemented, will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As President and Commander in Chief I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. And I am convinced that if this framework leads to a final comprehensive deal it will make our country, our allies, and our world safer.'

- President Barack Obama announcing the Iran Nuclear Agreement.

President Obama begins a twenty minute explanation of a major decision by reminding his bosses - the American people - and the rest of the world, of his Widget:

'The security of the American people.'

He is saying 'There are many Widgets that may not be served by my decision and therefore as many critics of it. So when you're evaluating my decision and its criticisms, remember my Widget that you elected me to serve.'

He proceeds to explain to the American people and the world - his good decision making.

He's the most powerful person on earth - and yet unlike many lesser bosses - he doesn't rely on his positional power to get what he wants done.

He shows his working out. 'You may not agree with my decision,' he is saying, 'but at least you can see how I arrived at it.'

Most importantly the President is saying:

'I am going to share with you all the information that I have. I trust you - everyone from the Wall Street Banker to the farmer in Oregon - to be smart enough to see how I reasoned my way to this decision - as if you had been sitting alongside me at every table along the negotiating pathway to my decision.' That's a profound statement of both self-confidence and trust. 

President Obama addresses four of the Five Steps to a Good Decision.

(We shouldn't expect any decision maker - particularly the President of the United States - to reveal her Step 1. To do so would risk undermining the purpose of the First Step: to allow the decision maker to purge themselves of emotions that may detract from her ability to address the decision on its merits. 'I ranted to the First Lady about how stubborn the Iranian leaders were and how political and pig-headed Congress is, and then had a couple of stiff drinks before watching a couple of episodes of West Wing followed by ten laps of the White House pool and several covert cigarettes in the Rose Garden while the Secret Service kept a look out. Then I went back to work making my decision.')

Step 2: Define the Issue. (Also the first job of a leader: Define reality.)

'By the time I took office, Iran was operating thousands of centrifuges, which can produce the materials for a nuclear bomb. And Iran was concealing a covert nuclear facility.'

In other words - 'My Widget, the security of the American people - wasn't being made.'

Step 3: Assess the Information.

'Because of our diplomatic efforts, the world stood with us, and we were joined at the negotiating table by the world's major powers: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China as well as the European Union.'

In other words 'I won't bore you with all the technical details in this speech, however other nations have looked at the same information that we did - and come to the same conclusions.'

Step 4: Check for Bias.

'In [my] conversations [with Congress], I will underscore that the issues at stake here are bigger than politics. These are matters of war and peace. And they should be evaluated based on the facts, and what is ultimately best for the American people and for our national security.'

In other words 'I'm not doing this for my own ego or glory or to ensure my place in history. What better way to prove this than for me to argue my case before Congress and teach Congress the same lesson of objectivity.' (We teach best what we most need to learn. If we want to ensure we're not being biased, teach someone else how to rid themselves of bias.)

Step 5: Give a Hearing.

'Given the importance of this issue, I have instructed my negotiators to fully brief Congress and the American people on the substance the deal. And I welcome a robust debate in the weeks and months to come.'

In other words 'Let me know if you've got anything to add to my thinking and the many decisions that still need to be made.'
 

President Obama began by defining reality. He concludes as all good leaders do - by saying Thank You.

'And most of all, on behalf of our nation, I want to express my thanks to our tireless — and I mean tireless — Secretary of State John Kerry and our entire negotiating team. They have worked so hard to make this progress. They represent the best tradition of American diplomacy.'

The Decision Black Box Data Recorder.

A decision crashes to earth shortly after execution.

Shredded, mangled and smouldering plans and assumptions, and splintered egos lie strewn across the impact area, that is soon roped off with yellow and black tape marked with 'MISTAKE: DO NOT CROSS.'

Expectations - customers, clients, staff,  connecting decision-makers - wait in vain to greet the decision at its scheduled outcome, then demand answers as to What Went Wrong and Who To Blame.

Connecting decisions are delayed across the decision making network, each spreading its own ripples of disruption.

Similar models of decisions are postponed or cancelled for fear that they share a fatal defect.

News of the failure affirms the procrastinators, cynics and equivocators' Fear of Trying. They celebrate by smugly busying themselves drafting agenda items for another meeting to discuss meeting formats.
 

What happened?

A naive inquirer ducks under the 'MISTAKE' tape and picks her way past the debris of opinions, conjecture, conspiracies, myths, recriminations, and folklore scattered for as far as rumour and fear can exaggerate.   

She's searching for the Decision Making Black Box.
 

Good decision making is a deliberate process of inquiry that advances you towards where you want to be.

The Process of Inquiry - the Five Steps to a Good Decision - is the 'Black Box' Data Flight Recorder equivalent in decision making.

In the aftermath of a decision, the decision maker can review each of the Five Steps that led to the decision, identify any element that may have contributed to the decision not having the expected outcome, and learn from it.

Did Step 1 allow enough time for the decision maker to purge herself of emotions that may have contaminated her decision?

Did Step 2 accurately identify what the issue was - usually by finding a specific source of power to make the decision - or was the decision maker distracted by 'topics' or personality politics?

Did Step 3 gather, verify and inquire into enough relevant information?

Did Step 4 diligently and soberly seek out any biases that may have influenced the decision maker away from acting in the best interests of her Widget?

Did Step 5 identify all the people who might be affected by the decision and allow them to be heard on what the decision should be?

If the decision maker has the Five Steps she can review and learn from about why the decision didn't achieve the outcome she hoped for, then that knowledge can be applied to the next decision to make it more effective.

If, on the other hand, the decision is made like 45% of decisions are - by gut instinct or positional power, then there is no process of inquiry - no 'black box' - to learn from.

It should be routine for decision makers to review the decision making process to find out what can be learned from them and done differently next time, even when the decision did achieve the intended outcome.

It's Good Decision Making - a process that can reviewed and improved, and therefore advance us towards where we want to be. 

Joe Defines Our Widget.

'All Australians share aspirations for economic security and an even more prosperous future — a better place for our children and the generations beyond.

But it is not enough that we share this aspiration. We need to make choices today to build a strong and resilient economy and lay the foundation for future prosperity.'

- 2015 Intergenerational Report: Australia in 2055

The Australian Government has been doing some Widget Thinking.

Yesterday its Treasurer The Honourable Joe Hockey published its five yearly Intergenerational Report which assesses 'the long-term sustainability of current Government policies and how changes to Australia’s population size and age profile may impact [sic] economic growth, workforce and public finances over the following 40 years.'

It begins by defining its Widget:

'All Australians share aspirations for economic security and an even more prosperous future — a better place for our children and the generations beyond.'

Bang.
Widget.
A big Widget.

Welcome aboard, Australian citizens. This is Joe speaking. Me and my successors will be your Captain on our journey to Economic Security and An Even More Prosperous Future. Our flight time is 40 years and the estimated arrival time is 2055. There will be some turbulence from the left wing during take off and weather at our destination in 40 years is sunny with the occasional rainbow and unicorn.
 

The Widget is reinforced in the Report with a solid foundation for good decision making:
 

'The term Australian Government is used when referring to the Government and the decisions and activities made by the Government on behalf of the [legal entity] of the Commonwealth of Australia.' (Emphasis added.)
 

The Government is - defined by its DECISIONS and by its ACTIONS - on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia. If the government does not decide and act - it does not exist. Put more practically, the electors vote it out.

An organisation isn't what it says it's going to do. An organisation is defined by its workers' DECISIONS and their ACTIONS. An organisation does not exist if it does not decide and act.

Organisations are abstract constructs that come to life in the decisions made by their decision makers.

This is why decision making is the DNA of an organisation and why it needs to be good.
 

'The projections in this report are very unlikely to unfold over the next 40 years exactly as outlined. Things will happen that are not anticipated in the report’s assumptions, and government policy will change. The projections are not intended to be a prediction of the future as it will actually be, rather they are designed to capture some of the fundamental trends that will influence economic and budgetary outcomes should policies remain similar to current settings. They help to inform us about where there are opportunities to be seized, and where there are challenges to be overcome.'


The Report recognises that a good decision is one that advances us towards where we want to be. A decision is made from what we know now. The world's response to our making it will reveal more information that tells us new things about the world and our Widget that we will incorporate in our next decision.

The Report is the Government taking Step 5 of the Five Steps to a Good Decision.

It invites the Australian people to be heard. It is the Government saying:

'Here is the information that we have about the state of our country and which we will use to make decisions that will affect you, your children and your grandchildren. Please let us know what you think because you have the most at stake and you might teach us something that we missed and which will make us change our decisions.'

The Report says 'Here we are. Here's where we want to be. Here's how we think we'll get there.' To which Australians can in turn decide 'Yay' or 'Boo' or 'Meh' or 'Vote Labor' or 'I'm emigrating.'

Or as The Honourable Joe Hockey told Parliament when releasing the Report :

'This is the conversation that the nation wants to have and we are ready for it.'

Good Decision Making Lite.

Following Five Steps to a Good Decision too steppy?

Choose one then.

Step Back before making your decisions, 

or

Name the Issue before making your decisions,

or

Assess the information before making your decisions,

or

Check for Bias before making  your decisions,

or

Give a Hearing before making your decisions,

Apply just one.

You'll be a step closer to where you want to be.

Challenge Them Into the Future.

Dr Fiona Wood, AM is one of the world's leading plastic surgeons who specialises in burns patients. Earlier this year she was interviewed about what she had learned from her surgical research and practice about Good Decision Making and Leadership. 

She started where all Leadership and Good Decision Making begins - the Widget - or 'purpose' as Dr Wood described it:

'I think decision making is something that you have to really take on - I was almost going to say a level of aggression - but a level of purpose might be a better term. Because you have to make a decision. There is someone in front of you that needs your help - you have to make a decision. 

Dr Wood acknowledged that decision making is cumulative - that each decision informs the next:

'That decision may not be right – you have to take that. You have to understand that the decision you've made, the action you've taken, has led to then making the next decision. Sometimes it will be right, sometimes wrong. You've just got do deal with it with a level of purpose. And so you bring to the table all your experience - the knowledge that brought you to that point. And it's a question really of visualising the outcome.'

Her Widget focus is paramount in her thinking, and relies on the systems that have been developed to support it:

'I see this individual....If you meet me as a professional you're having a bad day. So they are damaged, and now I want to use everything in my power, in our systems that we work in, in our systems and the knowledge that is out there to make their path to the outcome the very best it can be.'

Even though in each operation she is focussed on the person before her on that day, she maintains her disciplined focus on a more strategic Widget. Each patient illuminates the path to her Widget, yet in such a way that nether the immediate needs of her patient, or the longer term Widget journey is compromised:

'And the outcome that I've visualised for many, many years is scarless healing. We've changed the goalpost. We've inched doggedly there...are we there all the time? Absolutely not. But we're making progress. So it's visualising that outcome and making every play such that you can move it closer to that outcome day by day. And it's learning. It's always taking the blinkers off and learning so that whatever the decisions you've made today, you make sure that you make better ones tomorrow. And that has been actually an entrenched coping strategy to make sure that you critically analyse the work of today to make sure that tomorrow is better.'

Dr Wood's focus does not mean that she is blind to other new information that can serve her Widget:

'I see people out there that do nanotechnology, or genetics or all sorts of different things - psychology, neuroscience and they've got parts of my jigsaw. I need to get parts of that jigsaw and bring it in to play here. And therefore you have to make decisions on lots of different levels. But when you pare that all away you look at the person in front of you, you've got to get the removal of the dead tissue without them bleeding out such that you can repair them the best you can with today's technology such that you set them up for the best outcome.'

Her Widget focus allows her to quickly engage a surgical team with the needs of each patient: 

'I teach my guys: As you walk in you make sure you connect with everybody in the room and if there's people you've never seen before you write everything on the board that you're going to do. You should not be making the decisions while you're doing it.  You should have visualised it - you go in knowing what you're going to do and knowing your escape routes. So all of that has to be in your mind. And you have to see the landscape. What is it that you've got to work with in terms of your human resources - and engage them. Make sure they understand what you're trying to do and feel the passion - feel that for that period of time the only focus is for that individual. And that's a really important part of the whole. Engaging everyone.'

Dr Wood explained how the path towards the Widget is a meandering one, and that we should not measure our progress on the result of one decision alone:

'The outcomes have got to get better every day. And it's not linear. I don't live in an environment where every day that passes your chance of survival increases. It's not linear - it's a roller coaster. The waves of infection come relentlessly over, unless we've completely sealed - the person weakens and weakens and weakens. A third of the patients who don't survive will survive somewhere around three months. And they're hard days.'

Dr Wood affirmed Step 1: Step Back as being important in good decision making:

'We have this concept that 'Oh, it's macho to keep going'. But it isn't macho to keep going if your performance falls away. And so for a long, long time I've been very aware of people around me and trying to work out who needs to be rotated out...and so it's having that awareness and as I've got older, I don't stay in and so part of it is rotating yourself out, so that it becomes acceptable....

Dr Wood's ideas on leadership are consistent with Creating the Space and Defining the Purpose and inviting people into that space and using the focus on the Purpose as vehicles to reach their potential:

'I think leadership…Vision...is really interesting. Because I believe that everybody can dream. I think leadership is giving people permission to dream. Because I think if you take the time to listen to people you'd be amazed at what they dream. And then you encompass that dream into a vision.'

Yet always the laser Widget focus:

 'I saw a child in 1985 and it changed my life. I thought 'That child is so badly injured from a cup of coffee?' We've got to be able to do better. I've carried that photograph around with me for a long time.'

Dr Wood addressed the potential for conflict between Widget focus and learning where we are in relation to our Widget, and the need to get the day-to-day work done. She described the importance of being disciplined in routine and preparation in order to be creative:

'What we want to be is innovative problem solvers but we want to generate outcomes on a regular basis. In every field of endeavour that is a conflict - on the surface of it. But when you start to dig a little bit deeper… I indicated that it is not appropriate to be making decisions about where you cut when it's right there in front of you. You've made those decisions previously. You've visualised. you've gone to the table - whatever table it is - with your outcome in mind and understanding the opportunities you've got to get there. So there’s an element of planning almost on the run all the time. It's getting into the habit.'

She affirmed the idea that good decision making is being confident enough about what you know, to be attentively curious about what you don't:

'What is it that I bring to the table? What's my experience? What's my knowledge? The lawyers do it all the time with precedent, looking back at old cases. Get into the habit that it's always ticking over. Questioning the landscape. And I think underpinning that is a fundamental belief that today is not as good as it gets. Not in that you criticise today. It's not bad. It's the best it can be - today.'

Dr Wood's approach to learning is to seek out feedback. She goes beyond a healthy belief in relying on the power of complaints to provide it. In fact, why wait for a complaint to inform you, and assume that if there is none that you are doing okay? She advocates declaring your understanding of your Widget to the world and inviting it to comment: 

'As you've finished, as you've closed up and you walk away, you don't strut. You actually think 'Okay - given that same situation happens tomorrow, how could I have analysed it better, and then you go through the whole exercise again…the debrief.  That's not specifically surgery, It's not specifically sport. It's part of exercising your mind. And the next step is doing that in public. Because that's when it starts getting exciting because there's absolutely no doubt we're in an environment where you need multiple minds to solve problems. And so you have to have that level of inquiry and sort of ticking over and then you connect. And you start to develop a language of innovation and visualisation. So you can push forward.'

Dr Wood shared her belief in the value of 'trauma' as a stimulus to growth, extending the literal trauma to her patients' longer term recovery and resilience, to a metaphor about character:

'I can track periods of my life where I went through post traumatic growth. And it wasn't painless. The hardest thing for me post Bali was that people wanted to know my name.  Yet I recognised that as part of that I became stronger. And I became able to engage in this positive energy, in this positive good news stories. And I had my blinkers taken off such that i engaged with the community in a broader sense....How we can use energy that is so profoundly negative and turn that around - I think that's fascinating.  It's tiring sometimes. And it's hard. But part of that post traumatic growth is having the infrastructure around you, having the people and connectivity around you that give you the ability to lead.'

She had some powerful advice to give on how to deal with criticism and how innovation challenges conventional thought about 'the way things are done':

'There's an element of inertia in practice. Whether that be clinical practice or business practice...This level of inertia is really quite an interesting animal. Because it's useful, but it's also a hindrance. We need to have a level of capacity to maintain things moving forward at a pace that can be managed. And equally, we have to have people testing out the front. And so I have engaged with surgical inertia up front and centre and I've had to make the decision not to engage in that negative energy but to continue to be driven by the positive outcome, collect the data, present the data. And as the things roll forward, the data will speak for itself. And so that inertia starts to be overcome. And I think that the challenge when you're in a situation with that level of inertia is to understand you've got a choice. You turn around and you fight it…and it's bigger than you. Or you stay out the front and you wait for them to catch up. And they get there.'

Yet always returning to the supremacy of the Widget - and the need for a leader to be clear about defining it to the team, regardless of how clear it is to her or how passionate she is about it:

'I had a really interesting lesson in leadership inadvertently in the early 90s. 1991 I hit the ground running. I was very focussed on time to healing. Every day in a burns unit is a day too long. I aggressively engaged in a skin culture programme....the social worker at the time who was a bit older than the rest of us came and said 'Stop!' I thought 'What do you mean, Stop? ‘Sit down. I need to talk to you. I've been asked to come and speak with you. Well you're too intimidating.’ (Give me a break! )‘We understand that what you're doing has got to be right. It's got to have some real benefit. But we don't know what it is. We can feel your passion. We have no idea how we can explain it to the parents, to the patients, to their relatives, to the new nurses when they come on. We're all at sea…’

Dr Wood learned the definition that a leader is someone who makes good decisions that others choose to follow:

'Leadership 101. No team - no leader. Done. The elastic was at breaking point and almost snapping behind me. And had I not had that energy that they all got caught up in, it would have snapped well and truly. So that's the point when I said 'Right. Everybody who's at this table is here for a reason. You've got to be able to be leaders in your own right....Passion on its own doesn't cut it. The communication bit has to be strong.'

A Leader retreats:

There is absolutely no point in me being so entrenched that as I get through my final kick, everything fades away. Succession is so important. It's not because I want to be remembered. It's because the people need treating! And they need to be treated better and better and better. So for me, it's delegation. But delegation with meaning. Empowerment in a real sense. I need to let them deliver. Such that I can get out of my head, get it on paper and challenge them into the future. But in a way that is not intrusive. Not imposing my surgical inertia on them. But allowing them to grow. 

Dr Wood leads a team in Good Decision Making in life and death situations. It's not just theory to her. She is still able to  use the language of 'dreams', 'visualisation', 'mistakes', 'passion', 'innovation' and 'personal growth' while literally operating at the leading edge of science.

If Dr Wood can save lives while still creating the space for these ideals that allow others to become who they are, then most workplaces have no excuse.

The Self-Cleaning Decision.

'We should also pay particular attention to the first decision we make in what is going to be a long stream of decisions...When we face one decision it might seem to us that this is just one decision without large consequences. But in fact, the power of the first decision can have such a long lasting effect that it can percolate into our future decisions for years to come. Given this effect, the first decision is crucial and we should give it an appropriate amount of attention.'

- Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational

It's rarely practical to trace and review the great-great-great-great grandmother Decision that gave birth to the successive generations of decisions right down to the one that is now in labour in our brain.

The Five Steps to a Good Decision perform the kind of audit recommended by Dan Ariely without the need to identify and scrutinise the First Decision.

In Step 1, we remove our finger from the fight-or-flight trigger and surrender to the surrounding forces of emotions. We allow them to capture us so we can wallow in our solitary confinement of self-pity. We don't even try to put on the camouflage of reason and return to the decision making front. We lie on our bunk and sulk.

In Step 2, purged of our inward looking selfish emotions, we return to the external task at hand - serving our Widget - and name the issue before us that is relevant to our Widget work. We focus on what needs to be done today, and not what we did yesterday.

In Step 3, we assess the information that we have today, and gather more if we need it with an inquiring mind. We're looking at facts and data, not precedent.

In Step 4, we check for bias. We deliberately scan our thinking for anything that is obscuring our view of our Widget. We're filtering out echoes from past decisions.

In Step 5, we allow a hearing. We invite anyone who may be affected by our decision to go over our reasoning and see whether it supports our likely conclusion. We're bringing in an external reviewer to see if our options are backed up by data.

The Five Steps not only lead us to a good decision, they self-clean our brains of any residue that may taint the next decision. 

Be attentively curious.

Directly Involved Parties.

'They that have the power to hurt, and will do none...

...they rightly do inherit heaven's graces.'

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 94

The Investigation into the loss of separation between Airbus A330 VH-EBO and Airbus A330 VH-EBS near Adelaide SA on 20 September 2013 continues.

It was estimated to finish 'no later than September 2014'.

On 17 November 2014, two months after it was expected to conclude, there was a progress update:

'Completion of the draft investigation report has been delayed due to other investigation priorities, and the draft report is now anticipated for release to directly involved parties (DIPs) for comment in December 2014. Any comments over the 28-day DIP period will be considered for inclusion in the final report, which is anticipated to be released to the public in January 2015.'

'Released to DIPs for comment' and 'any comments...will be considered for inclusion in the final report.'

Step 5 in the Five Steps to a  Good Decision: Give a Hearing.

Allow any person who may be adversely affected by the decision the opportunity to consider your reasons for potentially reaching that decision, and to offer an argument why you should come to a different one.

Inviting a person affected by a decision is a powerful tool in good decision making:

• It harnesses the perspective, energy, focus and power of another brain (and heart) to contribute to your thinking (and feeling) while still works in progress and open to change.
• It informs you with the strongest argument against your own thinking - thus testing it - yet without the artificiality of appointing the 'devil's advocate' within your own team.
• It provides a forcing function to counter rote, systemic, thinking.
• It gives you a dress rehearsal of the likely criticisms that may follow your decision.
• It can counter groupthink.
• It reminds you of what is at stake for other people and thus focusses your attention.
• Those invited to contribute are more likely to accept the ultimate decision if it goes against them.
• It buys you time - thus creating more space (a mini- Step 1).
• It meets part of the procedural fairness required by law in many decision making processes.
• It shows transparency and evidence-based decision making.

Despite this impressive list in its favour, many decision makers avoid offering a hearing for fear that they will find out something that may undo all the time and energy invested so far; that it may create an expectation that they will be persuaded to change their minds; and that such an invitation undermines their authority.

A good decision maker acknowledges these fears, (perhaps even taking another Step 1: Step Back to indulge and then purge them) - then reminds herself of the logic of the benefits listed above, drafts the invitation to be heard such that it manages expectations, and reads Shakespeare or the writings of any good leader to understand that real power is demonstrated in the restraint in its exercise.

Observed.

'For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that -- either now or in the uncertain future -- patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts.'

- Bruce Schneier

The Leader begins by creating the Space. She invites others into the Space to become who they are. She assumes that they will make mistakes. Get things wrong. Fail.

The Leader doesn't respond with regulation. The opposite. She ultimately Retreats - leaving us to do our work. To make more mistakes. To continue becoming. 

Her faith in us mostly doesn't end well in the measure of the world. We fear freedom. Getting it wrong. We don't know what to do. No-one has taught us. We want to be told. We want someone to blame for our choices. For our unhappiness.

We feel threatened when observed. [I'm not trusted.'] We feel threatened when unobserved. ['I don't get any feedback or gratitude.'] 

Eventually the Leader is replaced by a manager. He tells us what to do. He checks and corrects. We chafe and share our grievances with each other during our designated breaks and are secretly grateful that we are no longer responsible for our unhappiness.

Constantly fearful. 

Longing for Leadership. 

Slack.

'One thing I said I could help him with was Leadership. Because I was thrust into that with West Coast. 

'And I'll be honest as I have said to him privately...probably not publicly as much as I am about to now...but I probably let him down a few times giving him...probably cutting him too much slack to go home and do all those sorts of things.

'So I don't think I actually helped him. I thought I was doing the right thing by him keeping him happy so he would continue to play football which is...ultimately...I was trying to help the Club.

'But from a Leadership...from a pure Leadership point of view...would I have done that in [his home town of] Melbourne? Well...I would not have had to have done that in Melbourne...to give him a training session off here and there so he could stay back with family and friends back in Melbourne.

'But I thought to keep him happy...to keep him playing happy...I thought that was the most important thing from an early point...

'I went to him and said 'I've probably let you down'.'

- Guy McKenna, Coach of the Gold Coast Suns AFL Team, speaking about Gary Ablett.

The first job of a Leader is to create the Space. Allow people to stretch and become who they are. Whack them if they breach it. Not as discipline or punishment. Not as an exercise in power. Not to diminish the person. To invite them to become as she knows they are.

Evidence that Guy McKenna is a Leader. His humility. His honesty. His measure of himself by his service to others. He doesn't wait to be criticised - to be complained about - for him to proactively admit - 'I failed you. Sorry.'

A month after this interview, Guy McKenna was criticised for allowing Gary Ablett too much freedom leading up to a big game.

The day after the article was published Gary Ablett led in possessions as he captained the Gold Coast Suns to a 40 point win - its first ever - over his former club Geelong.

Five.

The fifth of the Five Steps to a Good Decision is to Offer a Hearing.

Step 1 is to Step Back.

Step 2 is to Name the Issue.

Step 3 is to Assess the Information.

Step 4 is to Check for Bias.

If you believe that your decision is likely to adversely affect any person, you should allow that person to be heard.

A 'hearing' is simply:

• Informing the person of the information that you have about them.
• Informing them that it may require you to make a decision that may be adverse to their interests or expectations.
• Inviting them to respond to the information and explain to you why you should not make an adverse finding.

A 'hearing' may be a simple as a short conversation, an email or letter.

If the person doesn't accept your offer, you simply make the decision based upon the information that you have.

The ‘Show Cause’ is the best example of the Hearing step in action.  It says:

‘I’m thinking of doing X as a result of Y facts and Z policy.  I’m inviting you to give me reasons why I should not do X by the close of business on Date.  I will consider your reasons before making my decision.'

There are five benefits of the Hearing Step:

• It allows the person with the most at stake to put forward information that can ensure that you are aware of the most personally damaging outcomes of your decision, and assess them accordingly.
• It allows the person to feel involved in their own fate and that you value them enough to engage with them.
• It has echoes of the ‘listening’ in Step 1.
• It is another opportunity for you to Step Back.
• It is one of the most important elements of Natural Justice.

If the person responds, genuinely consider and reflect upon the information that they have given you.

Remain focussed on the relevance of the information to your Widget. 

They may tell you about their illness, their lost cat, their 37 years of faithful service, their passion for their job...

Don’t engage with any of these topics if they have nothing to do with your Widget.

Don’t seek to rebut or refute or correct in your response.  Simply say:

‘Thank you for taking the time to write those 73 pages in response to my invitation for you to give me reasons why I should not move your desk. I have given all of your submissions my consideration, and after taking them into account, together with Policy X and Report Y, I have decided to move you to the position near the window.’  

And you might add: ‘I am sorry to hear about your cat and I can understand how its absence has proved stressful for you.  I invite you to take advantage of our Employee Assistance Programme and will approve any reasonable leave that you may require to do so.’

The five steps allow someone to tell us their story and for us to listen.  

Our brains love stories.

Smiling.

Hamish Hamilton's good decision-making and Widget Thinking have led him to be chosen to camera direct U2, the Oscars, the London Olympics ceremonies and earned him a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award.

He was once asked how he dealt with the stress of multi camera directing.

'My talent is definitely remaining calm. Remaining polite. And in extremely stressful situations, making other people smile. Motivating people on a human level. And just providing a safe environment in which they can excel. 

'I can take on a lot of the crap and a lot of the stress and if I can take it and I'm holding it in within myself, it's not permeating out into them. Sometimes that's not possible. But I do try and keep it jolly.

'Because actually you know what?

People make better decisions when they're smiling.'

Alibis.

'Explaining your situation is not going to be nearly as useful as trying to change it through action.'

- Merlin Mann

'I have nothing to say to you,' he said over the telephone.

He was a policeman so he knew his rights.

I had powers of investigation, but not over him.

I was on a deadline and he was a critical witness.

I thought about driving the three hours to try to speak with him in person only so I could say to my boss: 'I even drove for three hours to try to speak with him in person.' I would hang my head and he would put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

The witness's refusal left me with so many questions and I was running out of time. No less than the Chief of Air Force was waiting on my report. I had so much work to do. I had to write so many more words to hide the fact from the Air Vice Marshal that I had nothing to say. 'What a long report,' he would say. 'You obviously worked so hard.' I needed to do some hard work.

So I went out and bought a newspaper and a coffee and a croissant and did the crossword at a café overlooking the Yarra River. I finished the crossword and sat and watched people for about an hour. Okay it was two.

I was following a rowing crew stroke its way past when it came to me.

I returned to my desk and rang him back.

'I just wanted to let you know that all the other people I've spoken with have laid the blame with you. The evidence as it stands will lead me to make an adverse finding about you so I wanted to give you the opportunity to put your side of the story.'

He spoke for the next two hours.

Step 1: Step Back.

Step 5: Hearing.

Distractions.

Good decision making in three words:

Be attentively curious.

Curiosity is about asking questions.

Attention - according to neuroscientists - is about suppressing distractions rather than enhancing what you're paying attention to.

It's all about the Widget.

Remember the Five Steps.

Step 1: Step Back. Indulge in the distractions. Don't suppress them. Romp in all the feelings and irrational thoughts that won't get the Widget built but that are distracting you from doing so. Be selfish. Purge. Be human. Be yourself.

Step 2: Identify the Issue. Return to the Widget. Start earning your pay. Start asking questions.

Step 3: Assess the Information. Data. Policies. Logic. Cool. Questions.

Step 4: Identify Bias. Am I being distracted by something irrelevant to the Widget? Questions.

Step 5: Give a Hearing. Hey! Affected person! Proof read this! Have I missed anything? Questions.

Questions suppress distractions by forcing us to listen to answers - and by zooming in on the parts of the answers that are Widget relevant.

Make the Decision. Become who you are.

Remove the distractions from everyone who's relying on the decision so that they can do their jobs.

It's called Leadership.