Decision Making A leadership training lesson from The Pennsylvania State University.

1. Decision MakingA leadership training lesson from The Pennsylvania State University. *This powerpoint should be used in conjunction with the Decision Making lesson plan found at http://leadership.cas.psu.edu/Training.html

2. Decision Making: Overview • Introduction • Lesson Objectives • Lesson Content • Reflection Questions • Resources

3. Introduction • Decision making is key in every part of life • It is especially important as an individual moves into progressively greater leadership roles • Leaders use every resource to make the best decisions • Many leaders find tools that can be helpful, along with their “gut” and common sense

4. Lesson Objectives • At the end of the lesson, you should be able to: • Discuss ways to make decisions • Discuss how to decide which methods would be best depending on the decision to be made

5. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 1. Stop and Think • Difficult to make a decision while in a hurry or trying to do too many things at once • Stop whatever is going on, or at least what you are doing • This will help settle your thoughts and calm you down • Once calm, think about the future and how your decision will affect you later

6. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 2. Clarify Your Goals • Where are you going with the decision you are trying to make? • Knowing your goals will help put things in perspective • It will also help put your decisions in order, if some things need to happen before others • For more information on goal setting, look at the goal setting lessons on the PSU leadership website.

7. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 3. Determine Facts • Making a decision without having all of the facts is akin to giving a speech without knowing anything about the topic • Be sure that you have all of the facts about a situation • To figure out what you need to know • First figure out what you already know • Then figure out what you need to learn • Be ready to do what is needed to find the facts you need

8. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 4. Develop Some Options • Make a list of all of your options • Talking to people you trust may help think about all of your options • Brainstorm options as if time, money, and effort were no object • More options make it easier to develop a solid plan

9. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 5. Consider the Consequences • Consider the consequences of your options and the decision itself • Two ways to do that are: • Weigh your options by thinking about the six pillars of character (click here to view a mini-lesson on the six pillars) • Will the options or the decision you’re making violate any of the Six Pillars? If so, cross those off of your list • Identify people who will be affected by the options or the decision and how they will be affected. • Will your decision help or hurt these individuals?

10. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 6. Choose • Make your decision. Use one of these methods if needed • Talk to people that you trust • They may help you think of new things • They may think of something you missed • Ask, “What would the most ethical person you know do?” • “What would you do if you were sure that everyone you know would find out?” • Would you be proud if your decision made front page of the paper or if someone called your grandma and told her what you did? • If you were on the outside of the decision and would be affected by it, how would you want the decision maker to act?

11. The Seven-Step Ethical Formula(The Josephson Institute of Ethics) 7. Monitor and Modify • Make sure that if the decision you made was the wrong one, you are able to go back and change it

12. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Prioritize your decisions • Make a list of all the decisions that you need to make • Score each of the items you have written down on a scale of 1-5 • 1 being the least likely to help you reach your goal • 5 being the most likely to help you reach you goal • For example, if you are trying to recruit new 4-H members to your club, score the decisions based on how they would contribute to that goal • The highest scored decisions will be made first

13. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Evaluate which option is more important • List all of the options you have for a decision • Select a pair of options (start with the first and second on the list) and compare them. Keep whichever one is more important to you. • Compare the option that you chose with the next on the list • Continue comparing items until you are have only one

14. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Choose between options by thinking about possible outcomes • Draw a small square on the left side of a piece of paper. This represents the decision you need to make. • Draw lines leaving the square to represent each option, and write the option on the line. • Think about the outcome of that solution. • Draw a circle at the end of a line if the outcome is uncertain. • Draw a box if the outcome is another decision • Leave it blank if the the decision has no more outcomes

15. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • If you have boxes, continue to draw lines and more boxes or circles. Continue this process until you have drawn out as many of the possible outcomes and decisions as you can see • Review the tree and select your path accordingly

16. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Look at pros and cons for each possible decision • Draw a table with three columns • They should be labeled “Pros,” “Cons,” and “Implications” • In the pro column list all of the positive elements • In the con column list all of the negative elements • In the implications column list all of the possible consequences of the decisions • If the decision is not readily apparent based on this first round of evaluation either brainstorm another round or give each pro and con a score 1 (weak) to 5 (strong) and add up the score

17. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Analyze the influences for and against making a decision • List all the influences for making a decision in one column, and all the influence against making a decision in another column • Assign a score for each of the things that you list (1 for a weak reason and 5 for a strong reason) • Draw a diagram showing the strengths and weaknesses for and against making your decisions

18. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Assess the decision from all points of view • Look at the decision from all objective points of view • Focus on the data available. • What can you learn from it? Discover what you don’t know, and either try to find that knowledge or account for why you lack the information • Focus on your gut reaction or your intuition. • Think of how others might react emotionally. • Focus on the bad points of the decision. • Look at it with caution and from a defensive point of view. Think of how it might not work. • Identifying weak points in advance will make any decision stronger

19. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Focus on all of the positives of the decision • Think about all of the benefits and values of the decision • Focus on creativity • Develop creative solutions for situations that arise. • Focus on the process control • Think like the CEO of a company and look at the decision from that point of view • Be directive when you need to think a certain way or focus on another attribute of the process

20. Other Techniques for Decision Makingfrom Mind Tools • Deciding if a decision is worth making • Before making any decisions, you should consider whether the decision is important enough to make • A decision might not be worth making unless it will • Be beneficial • Advance a cause • Contribute something positive

21. Reflection • Think about a decision you know you will be face in the future. Go through the steps listed above to try to help you make the decision. • Are some steps more challenging than others? If so, which are more challenging? • How can we make sure that our decision-making process is always a positive experience?

22. Reflection • What about using this process with a team? • Would it be as effective? • Would the steps found challenging be as challenging if a team were working on it? • Would other steps be challenging in that case?

23. References • Josephson Institute of Ethics. (2005). Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/ • Mind Tools. (1995-2005). Essential skills for an excellent career. Retrieved October 23, 2005, from http://www.mindtools.com

24. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 1. Trustworthiness • Trust means greater leeway • Others feel we don’t need monitoring to assure we’ll meet our obligations. • Others believe in us and hold us in higher esteem. • Refrain from even small lies or self-serving behavior that can quickly destroy our relationships. • Simply refraining from deception is not enough. Trustworthiness is the most complicated of the six core ethical values and concerns a variety of qualities like honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty. (From The Josephson Institute)

25. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 2. Respect • People are not things • We have no ethical duty to hold all people in high esteem but we should treat everyone with respect, regardless of who they are or what they have done • We have a responsibility to be the best we can be in all situations, even when dealing with unpleasant people • The Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - nicely illustrates the Pillar of respect (From The Josephson Institute)

26. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 3. Responsibility • Life is full of choices, and being responsible means being in charge of our choices • It means being accountable for what we do and who we are. Our actions matter, and we are morally on the hook for the consequences • Ethical people show responsibility by being accountable, pursuing excellence and exercising self-restraint. They exhibit the ability to respond to expectations (From The Josephson Institute)

27. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 4. Fairness • Fairness involves issues of equality, impartiality, proportionality, openness, and due process • Handling similar matters consistently is fairness • When the punishment fits the crime • Fairness is a tricky concept, probably more subject to legitimate debate and interpretation than any other ethical value (From The Josephson Institute)

28. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 5. Caring • Caring is the heart of ethics and ethical decision-making • Ethics is ultimately about good relations with other people • People who consider themselves ethical and yet lack a caring attitude towards individuals (love “humanity” but maybe not people) tend to treat others as instruments of their will • Sometimes we must hurt those we truly care for, and some decisions,, while quite ethical, do cause pain. But one should consciously cause no more harm than is reasonably necessary to perform one’s duties (From The Josephson Institute)

29. The Six Pillars of Character(click here to return to The Seven Step Ethical Formula) 6. Citizenship • Civic virtues and duties that prescribe how we ought to behave as part of a community • A good citizen know the laws and obeys them • Volunteering and staying informed on the issues of the day is key (From The Josephson Institute)