I recently read an article on Mickensy & Company which discusses a common challenge business leaders face in making decisions. The article states, “When making important business decisions, it’s critical to put first impressions aside and explore the facts.” While this appears to be a no-brainer to some; however, snap judgments is a concept often overlooked–leading to poor decisions.
I have seen time and time again how decisions are made based on a perception with little to no consideration for the big picture, or calling the perception up for a thorough assessment. Snap judgments are time drainers, but they lead to overall negative effects that hinders the progress of an organization as well. Snap judgments cloud our discernment for new opportunities, blow true probabilities out of proportion, place the wrong hires into positions, and lead to colleague isolation. Ultimately the greatest impact is on retention. Based on my experience, below are are few ramifications of relying on snap judgement.
Missed opportunities
Creating values is the goal of any company that wishes to remain sustainable. to do this one must be open to ideas and open to a little dirty word….change. Change is resisted more often than not. People dig in their heels and do not attempt to try a newer, more efficient process because “that’s not they way it’s been done before”. Those individuals are a hindrance to progress. But they are also gatekeepers of the past. There is a fine line one must walk, but not become so narrow in our focus that we miss opportunities. Business is about ideation, execution, testing, and pivoting. No company ever became great through a lack of innovation. Test and pivot.
Magnified Probabilities
Some individuals have a tendency to view concepts and actions at a disproportionate level its true probability. I see this occurring more with specialists than generalists. It it my opinion that when our specialization becomes very narrow. That is where we direct our full focus. It appears that we lose the ability to look at things from a global aspect because our minds are limited in its own capacity. Our minds simplify things based on its capabilities and past frameworks. Everything that can go wrong…might not.
Hiring decision
I have noticed how certain people are elevated to a higher position simply because they socialize more. Nevermind, the fact that they have not met basic metrics. While people have strong social IQ, they the feel-good sensation in that moment should not be the evaluating factor in hiring.
Recently, I learned of a promotion of an executive who had little to no experience who passed over another colleague who had years of experience and very influential in the community. The reason that was share as to why they were turned down was that they simply ‘could not see the applicant in the role’. Unfortunately, she was already performing most aspects of the job function. Admittedly, the new hire confided they have no idea what they are doing, but they just show up and smile. Unfortunately, smiling does not always boost morale of those you lead. They want to aspire to something greater.
When the same panel serves as the hiring committee for certain positions, even a sub-culture can form among that group. They might all have the tendency to hire more based on social traits than a deep analysis of what contribution the new hire can actually bring. For some the snap judgement is seeing values in someone what is able to smile and tell a good story. Red Flag.
Colleague Isolation
The article states that a common issue that most people are subject to the “Halo effect” Due to certain traits the person possesses, they tend to overlook the negative actions of the individual. For example, a snap judgement when one learns their star employee fabricated a story to slander another employee would be ‘surely they must have done the thing for which they are accused. Why would so and so have reason to lie.’ There are people who are very skilled in this delusion, I call ‘smoke and mirrors’. They work behind the scenes to plant seeds of misconception to others. Whenever everyone has been touched with the misconception, they might begin to withdraw or limit their time with that individual– creating an isolative effect. Sometime despite high functioning and result oriented capabilities, this can have detrimental effects on the individuals’ profitability within the institution. If they see not path, they exit eventually.
Conclusion
Snap judgements do nothing to help retention and it has just as detrimental effects on a company’s effectiveness. When a company has high attribution and cannot seem to get the right people in the right places on the bus, the ability for the company to deliver values wanes. They become stale and stagnate for years. They remedy speaks loudly, find more objective based measures to validate the reasons behind a decision. For anyone who know me, this is what I call “Step one”.
