Article
Harvard Business Review

How to Tackle Your Toughest Decisions

Format:Print

Abstract

The toughest calls managers have to make come in situations when they have worked hard to gather the facts and have done the best analysis they can, but they still don’t know what to do. Then judgment—a fusion of thinking, feelings, experience, imagination, and character—becomes critical. The author offers five practical questions to improve your odds of making sound judgments: What are the net, net consequences of all my options? What are my core obligations? What will work in the world as it is? Who are we? What can I live with? All five questions must be answered. According to the author, “Each question is an important voice in the centuries-long conversation about what counts as a sound decision regarding a hard problem with high stakes for other people.” If you work through these questions, you’ll know that you’ve approached the problem in the right way—not just as a good manager but as a thoughtful human being.