LEADERSHIP - Making a Difficult Decision

These are the decisions that are forced on us, the ones that we feel are unfair, the ones where there are no seemingly good solutions.

Maybe we're short staffed and we can't find good employees. Or we spent a great deal of time training someone and they just quit.

How should we proceed?

1. Acknowledge that it sucks. That you’d rather not be in this situation. That it’s not what you hoped for. That it’s not what you feel you deserve. You can complain as often as you like, but don’t let it to stop you from taking the necessary steps to make a decision.
2. Consider the sunk costs. Something that has already occurred and can’t be recovered. All the effort you have made up to this point, the hard work and investments of time and money that you made. Now, ignore them! They’re in the past. They’re at the bottom of the ocean and can’t be retrieved. They’re sunk! They have no connection to the decision you need to make.
3. Outline your options. None of them are as good as you hope. None are as perfect as you wish. All involve some difficulty. If they didn’t, the decision would be easy. Accept the brutal fact that the path isn’t clear, and you have a decision to make. Write them out anyway because that’s what’s possible now.
4. Now, consider each option based on the future, not on the past, ignoring that is sucks, ignoring the sunk costs. Which of these options offers you the best chance of success? Chose the future, don’t keep regretting the past.
5. Make the Difficult Decision. Once you've considered your options, don’t hesitate. Choose the best one and don’t look back. Go forward instead! Not deciding only avoids the issue, hoping that it’ll get better on its own. Usually, it only gets worse!  Decide now and revise it later.

To paraphrase J.R. Rim:

We have not been given the power to always make the right decision; we have been given the power to make decisions and the power to make them right.

So, use your power! And decide!