I was in a meeting a few weeks ago and we were discussing how a decision had been made. In this particular case my questioning centered on the fact that our team had not been consulted, there appeared to be no broad consensus or questioning to come to the decision. The response on how the decision was made:

“Because I have done this before. I knew what the outcome would be. So we are doing it this way”

Over the last few weeks I have reflected on just how dangerous that statement is. In the end the outcome might be the same, but with certain decisions the ‘how you decide’ is as important as ‘what you decide’.

Plus, I have found that you may have done it that way before, but it is never exactly the same … things change.