The Decision Maker
“And we’re not the only people at this company who have something important at stake,” Tom went on. “For us, it’s a big financial investment—because we happen to be in a position to invest financially. But everyone else in the company is invested, too. Their jobs and their livelihoods are on the line when a decision like this gets made. And in some cases, those jobs might matter even more to them than our investment does to us. Why shouldn’t they get some say in a decision at this level?"
^^ Dennis BakkeI would have loved to read about the ideas in The Decision Maker when I was in college, choosing a career path, getting started looking for jobs. It's such a powerful paradigm: the idea that people can be trusted to make good decisions, that not everything has to be given as orders in a top-down hierarchy. Dennis Bakke wrote the book as an allegory, so it's easy to see exactly how this type of business can run. Great, insightful read on the future of work.
The Decision Maker by Dennis BakkE
The following are excerpts taken from Dennis Bakke's The Decision Maker. Bold and italics are mine. Everything else is Dennis's.
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People think that sports are fun and work isn’t. But that’s not because sports are easy. Players make a lot more decisions in a single basketball game than a lot of people get to make at work during a whole day. That’s what makes sports fun. The coach puts you in the game. And then they actually let you play.--"You’ve got the responsibility, but you’ve also got the freedom. Think through these questions. Figure out what you think will work best. Do whatever you need to. If you want to connect with other people who are thinking about this, get advice from other businesses, you let me know. Whatever research you need to do, we’ll make it happen. And then come to me with your decisions about how to handle human resources going forward.”“So you can sign off on them?” Angela challenged.Tom shook his head.“Nope,” he said. “So I understand what’s happening in the business.”--He was sure she could do the work. That didn’t seem to be the problem. She just didn’t like the idea of taking on risk—probably because she’d learned from experience that it was best to avoid it.--a punch-the-clock, buy-a-beer life.--“It’s pretty simple. When you’ve got a decision to make, you get advice about it. One source is your leader. The others should have some experience with the decision you’re making: they’ve done it before. They’ve seen it done. Maybe they’re even one of our customers. And we don’t just want you to ask people who work in positions above you. If you’re a researcher, we want you asking techs. If you’re managing manufacturing strategy, we want you to hear from people who are actually on the floor. Oftentimes, they know just as much, if not more, than managers do.”--“The bigger the decision,” he went on, “The more people you ask."--“Well, you talk about how it’s more fun when you get to make the decisions. And that’s true,” she said. “But it’s fun to give advice, too. You should ask my mother-in-law. She can’t stop giving it.”Tom laughed. Isobel smiled.“So, using the advice process, the decision-maker makes better decisions.” she said. “But it’s also a way for the rest of us to have some of the fun of making them, too.”--“It’s pretty simple,” Tom said. “The manager of a team chooses someone to make a decision. It’s that person’s decision, and they’re responsible for the consequences. But before they make the decision, they need to get advice. Someone above them, someone below them. People who have faced a similar problem or worked on a similar project. The bigger the decision, the more advice they get. In the end, I think they’re probably making better decisions than a CEO might."--
“It’s not a matter of what I want to do,” Tom said. “It’s a matter of what makes sense.”
--People know when they’re cared for, and they respond to it. They naturally want to do things for people they know care for them.--In a decision-maker organization, the leader leads by choosing a decision-maker. The decision-maker must ask for advice. The advice process brings multiple perspectives together to guide a successful outcome. But the decision-maker makes the final call—and takes responsibility for it.--You can buy the book here. :)