Why does a decision that seems to be the right one always get on the ground? Is the problem in terms of implementation
According to peter druk, the “father of modern management”, “the actions required to implement decision-making will be incorporated into the decision-making itself. “decisions that fail to implement the design of an operation, and that cannot even be called real decisions, are doomed to failure。
How, then, can decisions really land? Four questions must be asked when designing decisions。
Question 1: who is responsible for the implementation of decisions
One company lost its leadership position in the rapidly growing japanese market because it had not been clear who would notify the procurement staff: its product specifications had been changed from english to public. As a result, large quantities were purchased wrongly, products could not be delivered and market opportunities were ultimately missed。
In this case, the decision to change procurement information was not communicated to procurement staff. In other words, there is no clear responsibility for this decision at the implementation level。
You might find such a case absurd, but think about it, how many things in your company are not clearly responsible, or there is no one at all. Either they report to the boss for approval, or they don't know anything about it。
Therefore, a decision-making or work plan must be clearly assigned to a responsible person. Remember here that a and b are not responsible for one thing at the same time. Both individuals are responsible, often the same as no one is truly responsible。
In practical implementation, it is also often the faulty choice that leads to the failure of decision-making. With regard to the selection of the principals, drouk has put forward an important principle: old people do new business and new people do old business。
In enterprises, it is often the case that a person recruited from a high external salary is immediately placed in charge of a very challenging new business, with the result that less than two to three months will run out of talent。
It is extremely risky for new entrants to take on new business risks directly, as they need time to become familiar with the operating mechanisms of the company, business logic and staff collaboration. In contrast, older businesses have often developed more mature experiences and processes that are more conducive to the integration of new entrants and to the achievement of results. It is easier for talent to stay when it is possible to achieve results。
Question two: what are the deadlines
For any decision by an enterprise to achieve the desired results, a deadline must be specified。
This deadline should be based on scientific project management, leading to a scientific, implementable schedule. Unless extreme circumstances were encountered, deadlines should not be determined by purely subjective judgement。
In subjective judgements, risks are often underestimated, gains are overestimated, while in actual decision-making, risks are modestly magnified and extreme circumstances are taken into account. At the same time, expectations of future gains should be tightened accordingly, even considering the possibility of losses together。
It is also important to consider internal competition for resources if multiple projects are to be pursued in-house. The limited resources of enterprises will inevitably result in some projects being put on hold because of inadequate resources or because of the excessive fragmentation of resources, leading to a significant reduction in the efficiency of project advancement。
The recognition of the timing of decision-making is therefore a highly complex professional undertaking, preferably carried out by systematically trained personnel。
Question three: who will be affected by decision-making
Any decision by an enterprise affects people at different levels. Some may benefit from it, some may suffer as a result, and may also involve reallocation of resources。
If a decision requires multiple participation and part of it does not support it, managers need to be involved and coordinated in a timely manner: either convince the person concerned to understand and support it or move it out of the decision-making process. Failure to do so would seriously affect the efficiency with which decisions are advanced。
Understanding of decision-making is key to achieving acceptance. The threshold of understanding is raised if decisions are reported on paper without the necessary explanation and interpretation. Managers need to thoroughly analyse and interpret decision-making until all participants have a common understanding. This appears to increase upfront costs, while increasing efficiency in follow-up implementation。
In addition, in addition to direct practitioners, decision-making often involves a large number of indirect participants and resource providers. These parties also need to be informed in advance; if they do not have any knowledge of decision-making, they cannot be prepared in advance and may delay overall progress or even undermine the goals and expected results at key points of project advancement。
Question four: who must be informed of decisions
Communication is an important task in corporate governance. If information within the company cannot flow smoothly, employees at all levels are able to access it through various informal channels, thus creating an unfavourable information environment and undermining the value system of the organization。
The decision-making of the company should be communicated to the person concerned at the earliest opportunity. In the case of global information, it should be made available to all employees at the first opportunity. In practice, the vast majority of information in enterprises is available to the entire population, and very few information is confidential。
It is the fundamental right and the responsibility of every employee to know the business of the company and to make important decisions. Therefore, enterprises need to establish an open and transparent internal information-sharing mechanism through which critical information can be delivered to their staff in a timely manner through formal channels。
People are born curious about information and want to know it even if it is not relevant to themselves. The essence of information-sharing is trust, and trust in information is trust in the organization. Staff members, on the one hand, have a clear understanding of the overall functioning of the company, and on the other hand, good performance can inspire the team to move forward; on the other hand, where improvements are needed, they can be motivated to reflect and improve。
The “action four questions” should permeate decision-making. Without systematic thinking about action, it is difficult for any decision-making to actually land, or even fall into a bad decision that can only begin without ending. As manager, you may wish to review these four issues before taking decisions, thereby enhancing your decision-making capacity。
Excerpts from "leader's talent" in april 2026, originally entitled "decisions to avoid bad end"
