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Making decisions

Posted on December 15, 2016 by wtdavid

decisions1

Making decisions is not an easy task.  Sure, some will say that they have no problem making decisions.  However, ‘decision quickness’ can have a dark side when it doesn’t consider a decision’s impact on others.  Others will say that decisions just take time. By that they mean, there are so many factors to consider, as well as prayer to offer, that a decision just cannot be made rapidly.

We as cross cultural workers are, in particular, subject to a certain inertia when faced with decisions, small or large.  We can ‘rush’ to a decision without seeking prayer and needed counsel. Or we can take such a long time to think about a decision that our ‘no decision’ becomes a decision. The time it takes to decide can cause the event or the God-given opportunity to pass us by because we waited so long to decide.

Granted, cross cultural ministry decisions involve both subjective and objectives elements. We see what is in front of us, but we also know that we rely on the Spirit of God to give us the wisdom and insight we need to discern the direction in which we should go.  However, I wonder if the roots of our inertia are really more a lack of skill, and a strong desire to want to look good before others.  To put it another way, we look to avoid the shame of having to take responsibility for our decisions.

Further skill training in decision making would be a good review for all of us; learning again how to prayerfully assess a situation and then create a process by which we can come to a decision.  However, we must not forget the desire that strives within us to gain the acceptance of others. Our decision making process touches more on our character and heart than anything else.

A strong dose of a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love would be  the start of a ‘treatment’ towards healing our hearts. This assurance would remind us that our honour is found in Him first, not in how others judge us based on our decisions.

As we move towards the start of 2017, I would challenge us as individuals, teams and a global community to learn how to better make decisions and how to speak the Gospel to one another in such a way that it actually has an effect on our daily lives.

 

 

 

Filed under: Decision making, Gospel, Planning, Prayer | 2 Comments »

Take your time

Posted on July 19, 2016 by wtdavid

Last week, I shared a diagram about the different processes that team members might use to work through a decision (see the post: “Dig deeper”).  A question came to mind later: is it more biblical to take your time in making a decision?  In other words, are ‘quick’ decisions lesstake-the-time-fi well thought through or sustained by less prayer?

The answer is not a simple yes or no.  It is much more nuanced and shaped by the following elements:

Time

In any decision, we need to begin by asking the question as to how much time is needed to make the decision.  Deciding what restaurant to go to as a team for a team outing should not take a week of discussion.  However, deciding to change the strategy and direction of the ministry cannot be determined by an hour long discussion.  Establishing the time boundaries of any decision helps focus our energies towards making the right decision in the right time frame.

Opportunity

A decision may be motivated by a unique opportunity that presents itself to us.  This opportunity is time bound in some ways.  If we take an inordinate amount of time to process, it could mean that we would miss this divine opportunity.  However, an opportunity allows us to ask the question as to whether we should or should not respond to that opportunity.  The refugee crisis in Europe would be an example of such a divine opportunity that presented itself to many workers and teams in Europe.  Some of us ‘missed’ the opportunity, while others chose not to respond to the opportunity because it wasn’t where the Lord was leading them to invest their resources.

Heart Conviction

A decision, in our context, is always processed with prayer.  Prayer is a vital part of any decision making process.  However, when have we prayed enough to be able to move forward or make a decision?  Once again, this is not an easy question to answer. However, the question can call us back to our need to ‘go on’ in prayer for God’s wisdom and leading, if the heart conviction is not there. On the other hand, the question can also ferret out a spiritualized attempt to stall a discussion or decision.  This is where decision making can get ‘tricky’ as we need to listen well to others and seek to discern our heart convictions.

Decisions (made slowly or quickly) are an opportunity for God to work on our hearts and change us as we seek to ‘change the world’ around us.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Filed under: Communication, Community, Decision making | Leave a comment »

Dig deeper

Posted on July 8, 2016 by wtdavid

A couple of months ago, in a conversation with a leader coach, we discussed several ways to understand how different members on a team function. This coach shared with me the following diagram.

Decision process

The diagram captures how people on a team can process and make decisions. For example, there are people who are rapid in processing the elements of the decision, but are slow to ultimately make the decision. It’s not that one column or way of processing and deciding is better than all the others.  The ultimate purpose of the grid is to help a person on a team learn from others and know how best to manage or navigate the  decision making process with others.

This is where the insight came for me. Rapid processors and rapid decision makers can digdeeperlearn a lot from ‘digging deeper’ into an issue through the help of those who process more slowly and take more time to make decisions.  However slow processors and slow decision makers can learn a lot from being ‘moved along’ in the journey towards a decision by those who process more rapidly so that a ‘divine opportunity’ is not missed because the team took too long to come to a decision.

Obviously, there is a lot of give and take needed in such a discussion. If we add in the other cultural elements in play from various members of a multicultural team, then the discussion can look extremely complex. However, that should not keep us from moving towards each other to learn from one another. A lot of times it begins by simply asking good questions to learn how others are processing a decision, and then seeing how that could impact our journey in the decision makingi process.

Filed under: Community, Decision making, Teams | 8 Comments »

How am I (we) supposed to decide?

Posted on December 18, 2014 by wtdavid

Decision making is not an easy science.  It is complex in part because it relies on a number of different factors both external and internal.  We need to differentiate as well between what is an individual and what is a group decision.group_decision2

There are a host of articles and books on the subject.  We could summarize several possible approaches in the following categories: avoidance; analytical; intuitive; and chance. The avoidance approach is taken when there is insufficient information to be able to make a reasoned decision.  The analytical approach works from facts in a logical process.  The intuitive approach relies more on strong feelings and a godly ‘hunch’.  The chance approach is more impulse decision making that does not rely on thought or analysis.

Call the approaches what you would like. The real issue is that each of us has a default approach to decision making which makes us suspicious or distrustful of all other approaches.  Add to any of the above approaches a ‘congregationalist’ process for a group decision making and misunderstanding is bound to arise.

A couple of takeaways at this point:

  • Any group needs to understand the various approaches available to them in a decision making process.  Group members need to consider what approach(es) might serve them best in being able to make a sound decision in light of all the variables and how their own default approach impacts a team approach.
  • Learn to differentiate between decisions that need everyone’s approval and those that call just for each person’s input.  Being heard is as important as holding a vote.
  • Proactively create a culture that nurtures trust.  One thing that comes through in a number of articles on this subject is the importance of environment, context or culture in the process of decision making.  Mistrust undermines an effective process.  Trust facilitates good decision making processes.   How?  That’s for another blog post.

Filed under: Decision making, Trust | 7 Comments »

“Congregationalist” decision making

Posted on December 11, 2014 by wtdavid

I remember the first ‘business meeting’ I attended at a local French church.  It seemed endless.  What might have taken two hours, ended up lasting over five hours.  Families who had brought kids were at the end of their rope as their children were running wild everywhere.  Non decisions became decisions as people wearied of the length of the meeting and little refreshment.  It appeared that every person needed to have an opportunity to express himself or herself on most every subject. group-decision-making

I later described this experience as ‘congregationalist’ decision making gone awry.  You know, the kind of decision making process where everyone needs to be informed, speak to the issue and all come to agreement.  It certainly sounds just and fair.  However, it is one kind of decision making process; and not the only one.

Most of us have a particular bent or default method for making decisions [similar to the different leadership approaches associated with situational leadership]. Our difficulty is that we can make that particular bent our one and only approach, avoiding other approaches for a variety of reasons.

We as a WT community have a bent for and often call for a ‘congregationalist’ decision making process to the exclusion of any other kinds of decision making processes.  What can drive this desire is not so much a concern for the involvement of the largest number of workers, but a distrust of those who have oversight of us.  By focusing on only one approach, we can inhibit true delegation and slow needed change.

We would do well to consider the source of our mistrust and examine the various approaches to decision making so we could determine the best approach for each situation.  What might that look like? That’s for another blog post.

Filed under: Decision making | 3 Comments »

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