Want to make better decisions that will impact the success of your organization?  First, learn what qualities contribute to good decision making.  Then, determine what type of decision maker you are.  Finally, learn to adapt your style to the situation at hand, and call upon the strengths of others to achieve your goals.

Six disciplines exhibited by good decision makers:

• Close observation
• Curiosity
• Drive to understand
• Risk taking
• Ability to see from different perspectives
• Ingenuity

A key question to ask: “What is the nature of the knowledge needed to make a decision?”  At the risk of over-simplification, most knowledge tends toward one of two poles:  analytical or intuitive.  Knowing the type of decision that must be made, along with where your personal strengths lie, will help you to focus on the information at hand and apply the appropriate decision-making matrix.

Do your strengths tend toward the analytical pole?  More than likely, your decision making style works best with knowledge that can be easily quantified and recorded, such as organizing a step-by-step process.  The analytical approach relies upon procedures, decision trees, and the comparison of data.  Analytic knowledge is the basic building block of most decision analysis.  Your skills are essential in determining how things get done in an organization.

Are you more of an intuitive decision maker?  The intuitive approach emphasizes such skills as pattern recognition, contextual thinking and the ability to see that which is anomalous.   You can shift your vision from a smaller bit of data to the larger context of the situation.  You make connections easily, are able to adequately size up the nature of a situation, understand it and make an appropriate judgment call.

Where does your personal decision making style intersect with good knowledge management practices?  Personal KM focuses on your development as an individual – your lifelong learning plan – but it doesn’t stop there.  Your value to the organization or clients you serve increases, along with your personal growth.  Decision making styles are, of course, just one factor in driving both your own success, and that of your organization.

Harnessing and leveraging the knowledge inherent in individuals and organizations is the mission of all of KM Institute’s training.   Whether you are a knowledge worker serving in a support role, or a leader on the KM Team, training you to meet the demands of today’s knowledge-intensive environment is our goal.  Our introductory and certification classes help you develop a personal KM Toolkit to bring the right knowledge to bear – at just the right time.  Join us in a live or online class to learn more.