Project Management Articles from the Project Management Advisor™

The One Nugget Report from The Project Management Advisor™
Issue 2010-02 - "Morning After" Decision Making

Several years back I conceived and funded a small business.  My partner and I were very excited about the concept and had sky-high aspirations about the prospects of the business.  While the idea was great, I ultimately decided to shut the business down as I felt the cost of keeping the business afloat would continue to outstrip the revenue.  I'm not going to bore you with the details of the business; what I do want to do is talk with you about the decision process I went through and how the "morning after" decision making process tipped the scales for me. 

A number of months prior to shutting the business down I mentally set a "won't lose more than" dollar amount; meaning that if I had to invest more than the dollar amount I would need to decide whether or not to shut down the business.  As I approached the dollar amount, I found myself faced with a number of factors to consider: there were people who had been working for me who will be out of work and we were getting great feedback on our concept and likely could turn a profit given enough time.  At the same time the business was costing me money and, if left unchecked, could create a significant financial problem for me. 

The day before making the decision, I walked around our local shopping mall for hours thinking (actually agonizing) through the alternatives.  As I was muddling the alternatives, I decided to play out each scenario by thinking about how I would feel waking up the next morning about each alternative.  I played this out in my head: 

• Alternative 1 - keep the business alive:  stress and fear of the unknown

• Alternative 2 - shut the business down:  relief

Once I played out each alternative and what my first thought would be after waking up, the decision became crystal clear:  I shut the business down and didn't look back. 

As leaders we are regularly faced with multi-faceted decisions where each alternative has its pros and cons and requires both quantitative and qualitative points of view to make the decision.  Many times the decision may be one of a "least-worst" alternative or a less-than-optimal scenario.  Using the morning after approach helps us as leaders listen to our gut and balance the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the decision and have more comfort and confidence in the decision.

When faced with a multi-faceted decision, take pause and play out each alternative using the "morning after" approach.  You'll have better peace with your decision. 

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