Decision-Making in Project Management (Part 1)

The Variety of Options

The role of project management is often defined by the decision-making authority of the person involved. This is one of the reasons why the criterion of decision-making ability is found in numerous evaluation and feedback forms. Since each of us makes up to 20,000 decisions a day, we can all confidently claim to have this skill. In this series, I will attempt to provide insight into the strategies that have helped me channel my decision-making skills during my 15 years of project management.

Can there Only Be One?

The narrative that the success and prosperity of our society is based on competition is omnipresent. Many people who attain positions of responsibility in their careers have previously received years of feedback that they provided “the best solutions” and often attained their positions precisely because of this.

Our pop culture is also constantly searching for the perfect solution. This fits in perfectly with the idea of competition and is exciting to watch, full of moments of sadness and happiness.
As a result, many project managers and executives try to find the one best solution. As long as the results are good, observation and worldview can be reconciled. However, when reality proves that there could have been better solutions, it can be uncomfortable for both the decision-makers and those around them.

Many Roads Lead to Rome

Unfortunately, searching for the best solution is a ghost hunt. Our world is too complex for any one person to fully comprehend; any attempt to predict the future is doomed to failure. As banal as this realization may seem, it is painful for some people to accept that their power is limited.

For me, it was very helpful and relieving to accept the diversity of options for action as a gift and to accept that “mistakes” will happen.
If there are many good options, it doesn’t matter which one I ultimately choose. In that case, any choice I make will improve my situation. Those who strive for improvement find it easier to accept that they have not achieved the best.

An Example:

Suppose we received countless applications for a job posting: we could structure the application process like a casting show and end up racking our brains over which candidate is best suited. Perhaps this would mean that it would take us a very long time to make a decision and the good candidates would turn us down.
Alternatively, we could accept that we don’t know the future anyway; our ability to analyze is accompanied by immense uncertainty! We could also simply draw lots from a group of promising candidates and gain time for things we can really influence.