Decision Making by Ken Chapman, Ph.D.   Listen to an audio version of this article by clicking here: Ken Chapman and Associates, Inc. · Decision Making   “Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind.”              Gordon Graham As a team member and a leader, one of your responsibilities is to make decisions.  Sometimes you decide correctly, but you always decide.  Regularly, you must gather information, evaluate facts, and decide on a course of action.  A decision is a judgment.  It is a choice between alternatives.  How quickly and how effectively you make decisions will, to a great degree, determine your success. Confidence and Decision One of the key ingredients to decision making is confidence; confidence in your ability to make good decisions and to implement those decisions.  When we…

The Role of Employee Engagement in Safety By Tony OrlowskiB.S. & M.S. Engineering, M.B.A Ken Chapman and Associates, Inc. · The Role Of Employee Engagement In Safety “Turning to the men around him, Dodge shouted, ‘Up this way!’ but the men ignored him. Dodge later stated that someone responded, ‘To hell with that, I’m getting out of here.’ The team raced past Dodge up the slope toward the ridge. Four men reached the crest, but only two, Bob Sallee and Walter Rumsey, managed to escape through a crevice in the rock. Wagner Dodge survived by lying in the center of his escape fire. The rest of the team perished in the blaze.” This passage, taken from Chapter 6 on Leadership in Safety Beyond the Numbers, describes a real-life disaster. A disaster in which more than a dozen forest service firefighters (smoke jumpers) lost their lives. The tragedy is a stark…

Leaders have an obligation to dissent. Following consensus may be the comfortable thing to do, but there’s a reason you’re at the table. Your experience and expertise bring a unique perspective to your organization. Leaders value a different point of view and are always willing to contribute their own. ─ Deb Miller ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

A self-confidant leader inspires confidence in others. Be confident about what you know, but humble about what you don’t. Leaders don’t have all the answers; there is almost always something unknown. Employees are more comfortable when working for a confident leader, but appreciate the humility of someone who can say, “I don’t know.” ─ Deb Miller─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it. Or, stated another way: Hope is not a strategy! However, leaders know a well-designed and executed strategy will provide hope. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Team members love change — if they initiate the change. Unfortunately, most of us spend a good part of our work life making our way through change we did not initiate. Leaders know that times of change do more than develop character. They also reveal character. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

How can I be sure when someone has learned from their mistake and earned the right to move on?   Everyone makes mistakes. But that’s not a bad thing as is often assumed.   When viewed correctly, instead of being a barrier, mistakes are the indispensable means to our growth. When someone in your organization makes a mistake and they learn (grow) from it, they have become a better, more capable contributor. In that case the only reasonable thing to do is to let the person move on from their mistake. This confirms the better person they have become instead of anchoring them to a past that is no longer relevant to them. The key here is learning from the mistake. There is no moving on from a mistake that you are likely to repeat over and over again. That must be addressed then and there with an appropriate consequence.…

“Indispensable outlier” is a term used to describe a person who is seen either by themself or by others as irreplaceable in the workplace. This most often comes with a set of negative connotations and implications.    To think someone is indispensable “no matter what” is counterintuitive. This is because we know every individual can be replaced in a healthy organization. It doesn’t at all mean that we won’t miss the person when they accept a different position, a promotion, or retire. Nor does it imply that they may not be the best person to date in that role. They may even a ‘living legend’ in doing what they do. And they may well be (and hopefully are) well-respected and liked.    But what we are saying is that at some point all of us will leave the role we are in at this moment. And no well-intentioned person wishes…

Leaders know it is impact not intent that builds or damages relationships. I may be well-intentioned, but others can only hear my words or see my actions. They cannot know what’s in my mind or in my heart. Leaders strive for impact which is consistent with intent and are quick to right any wrongs created by a gap between the two. ─ Deb Miller ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the US. Soil Conservation Service paid Southern farmers to plant a little known Japanese vine called kudzu. It was intended for erosion control. It does control erosion; it, in fact, controls everything it grows over. The runaway vine now dominates over 7 million acres of former farmland that is no longer useable for row crops or forestland. A wise leader makes decisions conscious of likely impacts, knowing effects matter far more than good intentions alone. ─ Derek Conrad Brown ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc