One best practice idea, eh? Just one? OK, here it is: Evaulate every new employee's decision-making ability.

Sounds easy enough, right? Nope--it's not.

Case in point: Let's disect Dustin's clever, while textbook, enticement with a monetary incentive to persuade, ever so smoothly, that you and I  post on this topic of the "one" best practices idea. Dustin is well-schooled in the art of influencing behavior, as you can see. Well done, young Jedi. Well done. He's utilized  the most common form of motivational tactics: A Reward--The $100 Amazon Gift Card. Did you notice how the $ sign caught your eye while reading this line even before you got to the $ symbol. Oh we are so predictable.

Oh, Dustin, how could you? I'm on to your ploy, my friend. You think my ideas and involvement can be lured away from my far more productive work during my day, just to see my name and ideas in the public domain--for all the world to see--for perhaps eternity?  You have underestimated my motives, young Jedi. I am motivated far beyond your dangled carrot (although I'll take it, by the way) that appeals to some of us. Truth be told I had made the decision to post even before I saw your bribe, your cunning exploitation of my deeper motives. So there.

So what just happened here? Why had I made the "decision" to post on this topic before I saw the REWARD? Answer: My decision-making process.

We make decisions thousands of times per day. Every voluntary action and thought requires a decision. So, if you can measure and examine how and why people make decisions, you can then develop patterns, "archetypes" or models, some would suggest, and then will even be able to predict the decisions a person will make for a given situation. Consider for a moment how valuable this skill to predict or learning how to access decision-making patterns would be when hiring a new employee, selling to a customer, speaking to a group of shareholders, negoitating with a terrorist, etc. Another example: Blue. Science can prove that your eye was drawn to this red-colored word before you started to read this paragraph. And you had a disconnect because the word blue was a red color. Your decision-making process was already milliseconds ahead of you suggesting something ain't right.

Fact:  People are successful in their respective careers because of how they make decisions. (Let's define "success" in this example as consistent job tenure of 3-5 years or more for each job, a income in the top 10% of wage earners in their industry, promoted in their jobs in over 50% of the time, free of substance abuse/addictions, and have a balanced personal life.) When interviewing potential candidates in an interview, my experience and research has shown less time is spent with finding out "why" the person made the decisions they did. The questions focus more on "what the person did in their job...how they did their job...who they worked with...when did they leave? These questions don't reveal a person's thought process--only their actions and outcomes. The questions don't reveal a system or process of decision-making. Asking "Why did you accept that job in the first place? Why were you laid off first out of 15 managers to pick from? Why did you decide to become a Undertaker?" will reveal clues to deeper motives beyond the REWARD of a paycheck, stability, health insurance benefits, etc.

My decision to post here is based on decisions I made at age 15, for example, when I took a typing class in high school. I knew then I enjoyed writing and typing was the fastest way to get thoughts on paper. My decision to post here came from accepting Bizmore's invitation for me to be a subject expert contributor. This invitation to contribute appealed to my sense of self-worth, self-confidence, a platform do present my insights and research, and my decision to write more about behavioral science issues. The REWARD for me is ultimately--and out of necessity--money. I have two in college and bills to pay and I am a businessman. However, the money received is a direct result of demonstrating value to my clients when doing executive searches for them by helping them make better decisions. If I can do this great, they pay me more money than Dustin can offer me right now.

Find ways to include more "why" questions into your interviewing sessions, when talking with customers, meeting with friends, talking with your boss. Why reveals motive and motive leads you to formulating a better solution for your customer or saying the right thing to help a person in need.

And thanks for the added incentive, Dustin. And the color of  $ never hurts to attract attention.

One best practice: study decision-making habits.

Russ Riendeau

East Wing Search

Get clear on what winning looks like!  Most individuals and organizations are running fast today.  But what race are they running and how will they know if they win?  If you are not clear on winning, your energy is highly likely to get diverted into less important tasks every day.  Getting clear requires moving beyond defining key operating metris.  The financials are, of course, critical, but revenue, margin, and EBITDA targets do not drive day to day behaviors for most of your employees.  Start with key operating metrics and then complete the picture of winning by defining it in multiple categories.  Your goal is to paint a Rembrandt - a picture with rich details of what it looks like when you get to where you want to go.  This clarity will contribute significantly to driving behaviors that get you to your desired destination.  Consider the following categories to trigger your brain:  how the culture will be including the attitudes, beliefs, values, and operating principles; what skills/knowledge/abilities will exist (by team & throughout the organization); what structures will be in place; what processes and metrics will be used; what tools, systems and technology will be in place; what products/services will be in market and which ones will be in development; who will your competitors be; what will your brand represent; what will customer/client relationships look like... (you get the idea).

Once you define winning, make sure it remains visible.

Jeff, Examples of companies that do a good job of interviewing incoming talent relative to decision-making ability are difficult to identify.

General Electric, for one, is very thorough in their process. I worked as an adjunct instructor there for a while and saw their process. It was intense and weeded out individuals that didn't have the skills to work at a higher level in business.

One way to increase interviewing effectiveness to flush out decision-making skills is simply by taking better notes, using a interview checklist or form with more behavior-based questions (for examples of behavioral questions go to www.eastwingsearchgroup.com/mediacenter for a list). The more you ask the candidate to tell their story, the more insights you'll gain and see the patterns and process.

The best practice I admire is measuring the expected ROI (return on investment) on every initiative. Whenever I or any of my colleagues consider a new business initiative, we make certain to carefully measure the expected gains and weigh them against the effort needed to launch the initiative. This enables us to 1) determine if the gains are significant enough to justify the effort and 2) help us prioritize which projects to focus on. Employing this strategy consistently has proven extremely valuable in my company as well as many others.