Decision-Making
Rule #4: Aim for “Safe Enough to Try” versus Consensus
Build systems for
decision-making
As individuals, we make hundreds of decisions every day. However, as organizations we often lack systems to help groups of people make decisions. By granting authority to others and aiming for safe enough to try instead of consensus, we can help our teams make decisions in a way that is effective, efficient, and empowering.
CASE STUDY
Our decisions are clear.
A midwestern school district (12,000 students, 18 schools) enacted the rule: Aim for “Safe Enough to Try” Versus Consensus by taking a large decision like “what curriculum will we use for the next five years?” and breaking it down into smaller decisions that could be made by individuals. This enabled individuals to know at each point of the process whether they were gathering opinions, building consensus, or making a decision. For more on this case study see the Decisions chapter in the NEW School Rules book.
Activities
These activities will help you and your team test out new ways of decision-making
Decision-Making Workout #4A
This workout focuses on Rule #4: Aim for “Safe Enough to Try” versus Consensus. In this workout you will build skills to take ideas that you might have said “won’t work” and make them safe enough to try.
New Workouts Coming Soon
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Here’s what we’re reading and writing
Articles, reports, and activities related to The NEW School Rules
Reboot Our Schools
We need to reorganize our schools to mirror our day-to-day lives so formal learning is more relevant to students and the school workplace is more appealing to our teachers.
Workout #3A
This workout supports you in building skills for Managing Roles Rule #3. It helps you practice regrouping roles and accountabilities.
Rethink Consensus
Consensus as a strategy is often overused and misused. Instead of defaulting to consensus, we need to focus on how to get clearer about roles and authority.