Have you ever made a decision, implemented the decision, and then been confronted with a raft of questions: “What were you thinking?”, “Why did you not do that?”, or “Why did you do it that way?” How can you avoid this disconnect? Bring the stakeholders together and build the value model as a team. Agree to the purpose and brainstorm the considerations. Put the considerations in priority order. Have the team discuss the costs and benefits. Don’t look for one number.
The bigger the decision, the more likely that people will view and value the purpose, considerations, and associated costs and benefits differently. Listen to the conversation as you build the model. Do you have major discrepancies in how people think? Does marketing feel one idea or initiative has high value, while finance think just the opposite? Expand the conversation to understand the differences and thinking that brought people to their conclusions.
As you sort through the discrepancies, look for common ground in your conversations, particularly in regard to the critical decisions points:
* What do we do?
* When do we do it?
* Should we continue doing it?
Reference: “Stand Back and Deliver”, Pollyanna Pixton, Niel Nickolaisen, Todd Little & Kent McDonald, Addison-Wesley, 162 pages