What Decision Making Is

Every school leader makes hundreds of decisions a week. Most are made quickly and without much thought. A few are made carefully because they matter. Decision making is its own discipline, distinct from action. The starting point is what it actually involves.

A working definition

A clean working definition: decision making is the process of selecting one alternative from among a number of alternatives available. It is needed only when there are options. If there is only one way of doing a task, there is nothing to decide.

The second sentence matters. Decision making is not the same as taking action. If only one path exists, action is required but no decision is needed. A school evacuating during a fire is not deciding; it is acting on the only option.

Decision making is required when:

1. Options exist. At least two real alternatives.
2. The chooser must select. Not just react.
3. The selection involves judgement. Either option could be defended.

Many “decisions” in a school are actually executions of decisions made earlier. Whether to admit a student who has met every published requirement is not a fresh decision; it is the execution of the admissions policy. The fresh decision was setting the policy. Knowing the difference saves a school head from re-deciding what has already been decided.

Two academic definitions

Management literature offers two formal definitions.

Haynes and Massie (1961):

Decision-making is a process of selection from a set of alternative courses of action which is thought to fulfil the objective of the decision-problem more satisfactorily than others.

George Terry (1961):

Decision-making is selecting an alternative, from two or more alternatives, to determine an opinion or a course of action.

Both definitions agree on the core: a process of selection from multiple alternatives. The Haynes and Massie definition adds the connection to objectives. A decision is not just any choice; it is a choice that serves a goal.

For a school head, this is a useful constraint. Before deciding, ask: which objective is this decision serving? A decision made without reference to an objective is harder to justify and harder to evaluate after the fact.

What the process does

Decision making is a process of reducing hesitation and uncertainty about the available options to reach a practical, sensible choice.

Decision making does not eliminate uncertainty. It reduces it. After a careful decision, the chooser still cannot be certain that the choice will work. But she has reduced the uncertainty by gathering information, weighing alternatives, and selecting deliberately.

A school head who waits for full certainty before deciding will rarely decide. The information needed for certainty does not arrive. Decision making under uncertainty is the standard condition, not the exception. The skill is making good decisions with the information available. Gather information, then choose. Uncertainty is reduced, not eliminated.

Three kinds of decisions

Decisions can be grouped into three categories by their structure.

Decisions Whether

A Decision Whether is a yes/no or either/or choice: weighing the pros and cons of one course before acting.

A Decision Whether is binary. Should we do this or not?

Examples in a school:

1. Should we accept this donor’s offer of funding?
2. Should we extend the school day by 30 minutes next year?
3. Should we admit this borderline applicant?
4. Should I have this difficult conversation with the senior teacher?

Decisions Whether are common and often quick. The pros and cons are weighed and the answer is yes or no.

Decisions Which

A Decision Which selects from a set of alternatives. The options are compared against criteria, and the most beneficial one is chosen.

A Decision Which is selection from many.

Examples in a school:

1. Which curriculum should we adopt for the new programme?
2. Which candidate should we hire for the deputy head role?
3. Which teacher should lead the new initiative?
4. Which textbook should we use for grade-5 English?

Decisions Which are harder because the alternatives are many and the comparison takes time. They benefit from explicit criteria. A school head choosing among five textbooks without naming her criteria is likely to pick the one she remembers from her own school days, regardless of fit.

Contingent Decisions

A Contingent Decision has already been made in principle but is set aside until conditions are met. Conditions can be time, price, availability, motivation, or energy.

A Contingent Decision is one that has been made in principle but is waiting for the right conditions.

Examples in a school:

1. We will hire a second mathematics teacher if enrolment grows by 15 percent. (Contingent on enrolment.)
2. We will buy new computers when fees are collected by August. (Contingent on cash.)
3. We will launch the new programme once we have two trained teachers. (Contingent on staff capacity.)
4. We will discuss the new uniform after the board meeting. (Contingent on timing.)

Contingent decisions are useful because they pre-decide. The school head does not have to re-deliberate every time the conditions are checked. When the trigger is met, the action happens.

Why decision making matters in a school

A school head’s quality is largely the quality of her decisions, accumulated over time. A few good decisions in a year produce a year of progress. A few bad decisions produce a year of recovery. The aggregate of decisions over a career produces the school.

Three reasons decision making deserves explicit attention.

Most decisions are made unconsciously

A school head makes hundreds of decisions a day. Most are habitual. Whether to greet a teacher in the corridor, whether to attend a particular meeting, whether to read a particular email now or later. These decisions accumulate. A leader who makes them unconsciously is being shaped by her habits. A leader who notices them can shape them.

The big decisions deserve real attention

A few decisions a year are big. Hiring senior staff. Setting the school’s strategic direction. Investing in a new programme. Handling a serious incident. These decisions deserve careful process. Treating them like daily decisions produces avoidable mistakes.

Bad decisions compound

A bad hire takes years to undo. A bad curriculum choice shapes the learning of students throughout the years it is in use. Bad decisions in a school compound because the institution is slow to change. A school head who makes one or two big bad decisions early in her tenure can spend the rest of her tenure dealing with the consequences.

Flashcard

What are the three kinds of decisions by structure?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Decisions Whether, Decisions Which, Contingent Decisions.

• Decisions Whether: yes-or-no choice; weighing pros and cons.
• Decisions Which: selection from many alternatives against criteria.
• Contingent Decisions: made in principle, waiting for trigger conditions to be met.

The second card pairs the categories with the underlying skill.

Flashcard

What does decision making reduce, and why does it not eliminate it?

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Answer

It reduces uncertainty, not eliminates it.

Gathering information helps weigh alternatives, but full certainty is never available. The skill is choosing well with what you have.