You've got a major decision to make in your firm.
Your law firm location is in a poor spot?
Your front end manager is not pulling his weight?
Whatever it is, something has to be done and soon.
However you frame it, as a business owner you are going to be faced with decisions and problems on a regular basis. There are many ways to pick your poison when it comes to making tricky decisions. Here is one method I use that I call the Benjamin Franklin approach to decision making.
The first step is to list all of the points– pros and cons — for each choice you have before you in your decision-making process. This also helps you to envision each option clearly and see the breadth of the choices spelled out.
Then, my next step is to assign each option a point value. Giving each option consideration, I assign the points and then add them up, using the sum as somewhat of a guiding principle.
There are going to be options for action that you know will cause you frustration and aggravation. There will be other options that appear easier, requiring less of you and are seemingly quicker or simpler. If the scores are very close, the next caveat is to decide which options are going to save or earn you more money; which are the correct options long term; and which will pave the way toward meeting your vision. If the answers to these kinds of questions are inconclusive, it usually means more information is needed to understand the options more clearly.
If this happens, it might seem that this exercise didn’t work. I challenge you that it has worked. Why? Because the results revealed something important that you didn’t know before. Your problem is difficult to solve with the limited information you have to work with. You require more information, that’s all.
When this happens, I collect the new information and then run the problem through the exercise again. Too often business owners make decisions solely based on their gut feelings. Naturally, we have “feelings” about different situations, and we think we “know that we know that we know” which direction to turn. However, as a systems guy that manages by the numbers, I recommend collecting more information and more data, rather than going with gut feelings in making decisions, because as I like to say (often) the numbers don’t lie.
Need more help knowing which decisions are needed for your firm? Contact Chris Winter and ask for your free 60-minute strategy session to discuss YOUR firm. Email Chris at chris@yourbusinessautomated.com today.
