In 1964 Bob Dylan sang the immortal line ‘for these time’s they are a changin’. Fast forward 55 years and fly across the Atlantic ocean to the United Kingdom, we encounter 2019 and another epoch of ‘changin’ times’ where political and societal uncertainty predominates.
The British people’s vote to leave the European Union has resulted in over two years of negotiation and wrangling, to the point where there is still no clear plan of action as to what the future relations between the UK and EU will be. Exactly what will happen next is still emerging.
The data we have gathered from over 1,600 assessments of individual decision-making suggests that being ‘decisive’ is much more complex than making firm or quick decisions. In fact, 55% of those assessed prefer to reverse or modify decisions they have previously made.
As a practising Consultant Occupational Psychologist at Thompson Dunn Ltd, experts in individual, group and organisational decision making, I am often asked to assess, baseline and develop decision making talent in many different organisations across multiple diverse industries around the world.
Just as a certain family might have particular ways of interacting and doing things, certain groups and organisations often have particular decision making behaviours, preferences and cultures that are characterised by the profiles of individuals they recruit, the teams they form and the talent they choose to develop…
Those of us who have been involved in large-scale Mergers and Acquisitions are well aware of the risk to the businesses and profitability when employees of both companies feel uncertain about their own and the company’s future. As words like ‘customer’ disappear from the company conversation and are replaced by anxiety and questions like “will I have a job after all this?” then it is definitely time to take action.
At Thompson Dunn, we believe that the Decision Profile is an invaluable tool to assist CEOs and change leaders at these crucial moments in time. Merging two quite disparate corporate cultures and ensuring that the ensuing merged entity has a common ‘language’ and understanding, is a complex and difficult challenge. However, tackled it needs to be!
