Decisions and Consequences: Is it Long-Lasting or Only Temporary?

Mon, 2016-07-11 11:04 -- tomjonez

 

In our ongoing discussion regarding decision-making in leadership, we have explored a number of ways to consider outcomes before we take action.

As we continue to review questions that we can ask when pondering a decision as leaders, this week we will look at the value of assessing whether a choice is long-lasting or only temporary.

As we have discussed previously, there is pressure for business leaders to produce ever increasing outcomes each quarter in order to meet the demands of the investment community. As a result, sometimes the outcomes turn a blind eye to the long-term view of decisions that benefit the next quarterly report.

Even with such pressure as a reality of life in business leadership, we can ask the question regarding the long lasting consequences of our choices. While temporary solutions may actually be a good move in the face of limited resources or the need to stay on pace for a deadline, there is a balancing act involved in making decisions that are only temporary.

The point in asking the question is, more than anything else, to help us consider long-term impacts of our decisions at those points in time when we feel that we are under the gun to get it done without significant delay.  When face with such decisions, it can be helpful to pause and ask, “Is it long-lasting - or only temporary?”