Here is today's quick question for you...​Why does this decision feel hard?

Sometimes, a pros and cons list just doesn’t cut it. When a choice feels unusually tough, it's often because something else is going on. Maybe it challenges our values, our identity, or our vision of the future. Decode that difficulty is the key to simplifying the decision.

Ask it when you're...

1. Procrastinating - When you find yourself avoiding a decision that looks simple on paper, consider why you might be resisting.

2. Feeling disproportionately uncomfortable - If the emotional weight doesn't match the practical stakes, there's usually something underneath worth exploring.

3. Getting conflicting advice - When trusted advisors are pulling you in different directions, the difficulty might stem from competing values rather than unclear facts.

Ask it when you're...

1. Second-guessing a decision - When that familiar doubt settles in, this question helps distinguish between healthy reflection and destructive rumination.

2. Facing a high-stakes choice - Before you commit, getting clear on your success criteria prevents you from shifting the goalposts later when pressure increases.

3. Leading through uncertainty - When your team is looking to you for confidence, acknowledging that "rightness" is often unattainable rather than predetermined can increase their trust in your leadership.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How will we know we’ve made the right choice?

This question keeps many leaders up at night. Big decisions made with incomplete information are revisited and sometimes relitigated. The concept of ‘rightness’ is the topic of many debates in coaching sessions with my clients.

Ask it when you're...

1. Second-guessing a decision - When that familiar doubt settles in, this question helps distinguish between healthy reflection and destructive rumination.

2. Facing a high-stakes choice - Before you commit, getting clear on your success criteria prevents you from shifting the goalposts later when pressure increases.

3. Leading through uncertainty - When your team is looking to you for confidence, acknowledging that "rightness" is often unattainable rather than predetermined can increase their trust in your leadership.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What if we do nothing?

Those of you with a strong bias for action are probably feeling pretty uncomfortable right about now. And if you like to ponder deeply before deciding, I suspect you’re loving this question.

Ask it when you're...

1. Feeling like none of the options are right - When there’s pressure to do something, but nothing feels right, stopping to consider the ‘do nothing’ option can unlock the path to a good decision.

2. Resisting momentum - If you feel like the train is running way too fast and quick-fire decisions are creating risk, then a ‘do nothing’ prompt can be a helpful circuit breaker.

3. Burned out - Maybe your team needs a break, and a ‘do nothing’ day would give them a fresh perspective and energy.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What happens if we wait?

Balancing prudent decision making and a bias for action can be tough, especially when under pressure. Understanding the impact of time can help navigate this challenge.

Ask it when you're...

1. Feeling the need for more data - Seeking more data can create the impression of safety or prudence, but what if the delay has other implications?

2. Sensing hesitation or conservatism from your colleagues - Getting others to acknowledge the impact of waiting can create greater understanding of the benefits and risks that waiting may produce.

3. In a team that rushes to decisions - This question may increase understanding of the benefits of a more considered approach. It may also create space for new information or dynamics to present themselves.

Here is today's quick question for you...​Who has the D?

If you’re familiar with the RAPID framework, you’ll know that the D is for Decide. I’ve seen so much time wasted, especially in cross-functional teams, because people are unsure who has the authority to make a decision. They don’t know who has the D.

Ask it when you're...

1. Establishing a cross-functional team - Understanding roles, responsibilities, and decision protocols up front will save you a lot of heartache down the track.

2. Feeling agitation among your colleagues - when frustrated by a lack of progress, team members will express, but may be unable to escape the vortex of indecision. This question may give them a path forward.

3. Making decisions with significant consequences - The weightier the decision, the greater the need for clarity on the D.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How do our values show up in our decision-making?

The quality of collective decision-making is coming up in many of my coaching conversations. Over the next 6 weeks, I’ll feature a series of questions designed to help you create the conditions for better decisions. Starting with values…

Ask it when you're...

1. Reflecting on the impact of past decisions - As an LT, your decisions send ripples throughout the organisation. People want to trust that your values are embedded in every call you make.

2. Making a hard call - The toughest decisions are often the ones that involve tension between values. Calling them out and describing how they’re showing up for each person can help navigate to an outcome.

3. Sensing groupthink - If it feels like your team is on a runaway train, pausing and anchoring back to values can help reorient the conversation.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How can we make recognition more meaningful in our team?

Ask it when you're...

1. Responding to disappointing engagement survey results - I wish I had a dollar for every time I read a team engagement survey that reported a need for different recognition! The key is to remember that it may be about ‘different’ rather than ‘more.

2. Focusing on retaining key people - According to McKinsey, nonfinancial recognition drives 55% of employee engagement, so understanding it from your team’s perspective is critical to retention.

3. Designing reward structures - Remember that Reward AND Recognition need to be considered in your design. Reward alone won’t do the job.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What feedback models are right for our team?

Hint: Does your team prefer Radical Candor? SBI? STAR? The S*it Sandwich?

Ask it when you're...

1. Building a new team - Context and experience are important considerations for choosing your team’s preferred feedback model, and this question helps identify a good match.

2. Introducing a performance culture - Feedback mechanisms tell your team a lot about your culture. Finding the right fit between your drivers and feedback processes will make transitioning to a performance culture much easier.

3. Sensing a lack of feedback across the team - If your preferred model doesn’t resonate with the team, they’re unlikely to use it. Try asking for input to find the model that fits.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How comfortable are we in giving each other feedback?

Ask it when you're...

1. Reflecting on team maturity - This question can help assess how well your team connects and whether any unsaid ‘elephants’ could hinder your progress.

2. Designing your team offsite - It can be helpful to push your team into areas of discomfort, but dangerous to go too far too soon. This question can help you establish a baseline.

3. Developing your L&D plan  - Perhaps your team could use some training on how to deliver (and receive) feedback more effectively. If that’s the case, I’d love to help. You can email me here.

Here is today's quick question for you...​Our plan isn’t working. What do we do now?

Ask it when you're...

1. Seeing poor response to your sales and marketing motion - You’ve set expectations. And probably thresholds or tolerances, too. The results just aren’t what they need to be. It’s time to stop, evaluate and iterate.

2. Losing key people - You thought you’d created a culture to retain your best people, but for some reason, they keep leaving. You won't know why unless you ask. (HOT TIP: If your answer is money, ask again!) And you won’t change things if you don’t change.

3. Hearing NO (or nothing) from potential investors  - Something about your pitch isn’t resonating. Getting feedback on why is often tough - but it’s always worth asking. Or at least look inwards to consider what could be going wrong and build a list of possible new approaches to experiment with.