Are
your decisions creating unintended consequences? If they are you may need to review how much you
need to control the decision-making process in your business. Are you the only one who really makes
decisions or do you seek to collaborate?
Authoritarian Tendencies
We
are currently witnessing an extraordinary change in international politics with
some leaders making very wide ranging decisions without appropriate
collaboration and it highlights an interesting paradox in the delegation of
decision making. The British Prime
Minster Theresa May boldly announced that she would take the UK out of the
European single market without the need for agreement from Parliament. This was promptly challenged in the High
Court and found to be unconstitutional.
The UK Constitution demands collaboration in parliament in order to
maintain a parliamentary democracy. This
requires appropriate input and debate by representatives of the people, so she
had to back down and agree to put a bill through the parliamentary procedure.
In
the USA there is a new President who is showing all the signs of someone who is
happy to make all the decisions and neglect collaboration. He wrote six quite radical Executive Orders
in his first week of office and they immediately prompted strong and
influential voices threatening to challenge the Orders in the courts. It still remains to be seen what the
consequences of his authoritarian and provocative stance will be in the longer
term. His followers love it but in an
increasingly interconnected and interdependent global economy there are some
very serious implications and risks in this approach.
In
both of the above cases the political leaders are acting as if they have a 100%
majority mandate with unilateral authority and that is simply not the
case. If they don’t show signs of
willingness to collaborate and share some decisions with others there will be a
backlash with unintended consequences. No
one wants an authoritarian, who makes all the decisions on their own, in charge
of their country. History is littered
with examples of authoritarians who ended up with a lot of unintended
consequences. They often came to an unpleasant end, leaving a trail of
destruction behind them.
Deferring Decisions
Let’s
look at another example of the paradox of delegating decisions and taking
responsibility for making decisions. The
European experiment of a union of sovereign states has lofty ideals that have
successfully prevented war amongst the major European powers for the longest
period in many generations. However, the
decision making process in the EU, which emphasises collaboration and agreement,
has created the unintended consequences of intolerable bureaucracy with a lack
of clear leadership. This has led to
overly cumbersome processes where decisions get bogged down in endless protocols
and haggling about vested interests and no-one takes responsibility because it
is politically safer to defer decisions.
Unfortunately this is creating the unintended consequences of a backlash
and increasing opposition to the whole project.
Wise Leadership and Authoritative Collaboration
The
paradox in the delegation of decisions is elegantly explained in one of the graphs
designed by Dr Dan Harrison. Dan has made a unique contribution to the field of
human potential by using his expertise from the field of mathematics and
applied psychology to develop an elegant and insightful set of reports that
raise awareness and motivation by highlighting natural strengths and possible
derailers.
Wise
leaders are aware of the paradox in delegation and know how to balance the
enjoyment of making decisions and taking responsibility with the enjoyment of
collaborating with others when making decisions. They know that collaboration often leads to
better decisions and has a number of advantages like getting buy-in and making
people feel part of the process. This participation
can give valuable input while increasing engagement, commitment to the decision
and active participation in implementing it.
The
proverb for Authoritative Collaboration is: “Never
hesitate to take counsel from appropriate people, but always take full
responsibility for your own decisions.”
By
exercising ‘Authoritative Collaboration’ wise leaders are willing to take
responsibility for decisions and yet avoid the ego-trap of being authoritarian and
insisting on having sole control of decisions.
They also avoid deferring decisions to others because they don’t worry
about being blamed for a particular decision.
An Authoritative Collaborator is a natural delegator because they will
gently guide the direction of subordinates while maintaining
responsibility. They create greater
involvement from everyone and when a task or project is begun, people feel it
is their own idea. When the task is complete, they feel it was their project.
The
opposite of Authoritative Collaboration is ‘Avoiding Decisions’ where someone
avoids taking responsibility for decisions and doesn’t consult with others when
making decisions.
The Paradox of Delegation
The Paradox of Delegation is explained below. There are two primary traits:
• ‘Authoritative’ which is the desire for decision-making authority and the willingness to accept decision-making responsibility.
• ‘Collaborative’ which is the tendency to collaborate with others when making decisions.
If
we have a very high Authoritative tendency with low Collaborative tendencies we
can end up being rather authoritarian and believe that collaboration is only
for people who won’t take responsibility. On the other hand if we have a very
high collaborative tendency with low authoritative tendencies it can lead to
Deferring Decisions to others and a belief that they will be blamed or even
punished if things don’t work out. This tendency also demonises people who are
authoritative. If we avoid
decision-making authority, while at the same time avoiding making decisions
jointly with others, there is a tendency to avoid decisions altogether. I’ve heard many business leaders say that this
particular tendency can be disastrous, especially in a rapidly changing and
uncertain world. A typical entrepreneurial approach is that it’s better to make
a poor decision than none at all.
Retaining your Best People
Many
businesses are struggling to attract and retain good people. Numerous surveys are showing that the quality
of leadership and management is becoming even more critical than ever
before. In order to create a dynamic
environment with highly engaged people who believe they are valued, you need to
ensure that your managers are versatile and have strong Authoritative
Collaboration so their people are fully involved while also having clear
direction and leadership.
So
where are you on this paradox? What are
your decision-making preferences? Are
they appropriate for the current stage of your business? What are the tendencies of your key managers
and are they being as effective as they need to be? How well are you and your managers avoiding
the unintended consequences of an unbalanced approach?
It
is interesting to see how many clients are now using the powerful insights from
the Harrison Paradox Report to identify individual and team traits and tendencies. It is important to note that a strong trait is
not necessarily a strength because if a strong trait is unbalanced as described
above it may produce unintended consequences.
A genuine strength is created when two paradoxical traits combine to cancel
out the unintended consequences and you are left with a balanced versatility
which includes the complimentary benefits of each trait.
To
explore any of the above issues and to see where you stand on the Paradox of Delegation,
as well as the eleven other Paradoxes in this unique assessment, just contact Gloria
at info@InspiredWorking.com.
With best regards
David Klaasen
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