Punish.
'At an early stage Abbott defined his priorities: securing the site, returning the bodies, an independent inquiry, and punishing the guilty.
Each day his sense of mission is clearer. It is the key to crisis management. Abbott said late yesterday he had but one purpose: "to bring our people home"...'
The unconscious priority of decision makers is often the reverse: finding and punishing the guilty, then finding the information that supports the decision to punish.
Our decision making is influenced by the need to punish more than we realise.
(We don't make decisions - we make 'judgements'.)
Vengeance. Deterrence. Retribution. Justice.
No organisation other than the state can give any of these.
None should behave as if they can.
This subconscious need to punish is also why some won't make a decision.
'Who am I to judge?'
If we're not the decision maker, we project that assumption onto the person who is.
We won't offer information relevant to a decision.
'What if I'm wrong? I don't want to be responsible for what happens to someone else.'
We don't want to lead someone to the hangman's noose.
It's just information.
How do we avoid being distracted by our punishment bias?
Clarity of our Mission. Our Purpose.