Thursday, July 07, 2011

Exemplary Decision-Making Begins In Elementary School

One of the hardest concepts to teach or share with co-workers is the value of collaborative decision-making which was a value in the corporate cultures where I was an executive.Capture

Far too many people got stuck “apprentice” vs. “exemplary” level for decision-making in elementary school  (click here or on the image in this blog) and as a result, they come into the workplace obsessed with being able to make solo decisions vs. collaborating on the “best possible decision.”

In my experience this problem is also far too often apparent in collaborations between organizations when there always seems to be at least one executive who will will try to orchestrate an outcome in advance because he or she fears “their” decision won’t be reached through genuine collaboration with others.

Click here for a good Change Anything blog about how to “play well with others or click on the image in this blog to see a a group work rubric posted on that blog.

Also useful in the Change Anything blog are the seven tips below for learning to work well with others by Susan M. Healthfield who writes about HR on About.com:

1) Bring suggested solutions along with problems to the meeting table.

2) Never ever play the “blame game.”

3) Avoid sarcasm and undue criticism at all costs.

4) Never blindside a coworker or boss with complaints.

5) Keep your commitments.

6) Share credit for accomplishments, ideas, and contributions.

7) Help other employees find their greatness.

No comments: