At some companies, decision are made by the senior person in charge and implemented in top down fashion. We discourage this kind of decision making at White Rabbit and give employees an unusual level of freedom with the aim of speeding up the decision-making process and bringing fresh ideas to the process.

<aside> 💁🏻‍♀️ Do what's best for the company.

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In order to do what's best for the company, decision-making should not be made in isolation. We should make decisions as a team, with individual team members attempting to influence each other using rational persuasion and data. Gut feeling should have little impact on how decisions are made.

Decision-Making Process

We advocate the following approaches to improve the quality of decision making.

• Leaders should identify the person closest to the situation and let them make the decision.
• Decision makers must ask for advice when making material decisions.. They are expected to gather information and seek advice (from peers, managers, or from someone outside the organization).

Choosing a decision-maker

Start by looking at who is close to the issue, who is well acquainted with the context and details, and who understands the big picture of the decision to be made. Next consider their perspective. This can be just as valuable as proximity, as sometimes the Decision Maker may be someone from the outside as well. Also, consider their experience in the situation and decision-making—have they had similar decisions to make? Lastly, consider their wisdom as well. Have they made good decisions in the past? Do you and others have confidence in them?

The Advice Process

The Decision Maker makes the final call but must ask for advice. So how does the Decision Maker know whom they should approach for advice? They should look for the following in people:

• Experience - Has this person had experience with the circumstances that require the decision to be made?
• Position - People in different positions see things differently. The Decision Maker should seek out a leader, a peer, or someone who works in a position below them in hierarchy – and even, if the circumstance allows, seek advice outside the company.
• While the decision maker is not required to act on all the advice they get, they should take the insights the data and analysis provided and interpret them before making a decision.
• Skipping the advice process when making material decisions is tantamount to being disloyal to the company.

Reversible vs Irreversible Decisions

Here are some tips to better decision-making, inspired by a Jeff Bezos shareholder letter from 2016: