The decisions that I have made in
the past considering the Cynefin Framework
and the methodology of the decision making skills have occurred on
several instances where I have had to work through the issue. When you make
decision using multiple contexts you have to be very careful not to misconstrue
the method and meaning of your decision.
We have all maybe looked at the simple form of decision making and
looked back to see if the question at hand has appeared in the past and what
did we do to answer this problem. As with
any decision we cannot allow ourselves to become complacent with the same
answer that we have done over and over. This may be a pitfall where the
variables of the problem may have changed and we miss the warning signs. When these
danger signs have been identified it is important that we ask and present this
to our peers for review and suggestions. It is very important to recognize when we are
faced with a problem that we feel that may be beyond our capability to answer
correctly or accurately. When faced with
this we need to outsource the issue to gain a fresh prospective on how we are
going to handle this. Ultimately the final decision should remain with you
since you are the one tasked to handle the issue. This can often lead into
complex or chaotic type of situations where you cannot seem to find a solution
to the problem. The command and control tactic may work in the short run but
you can assure that this should not be a long term answer to the problem. Remain fluid in this crisis and be ready to
accept any suggestion from your peers since they may have a better idea. Don’t
let pride or your ego get in the way of the correct decision.
I have faced this in the past with
several decisions that I have made. The first instance is when I was
supervising a squad where we responded to a call involving a missing person. I have
handled many missing persons cases in the past but this call had several
variables that I have not experienced before. The fact remained that I was not
willing to let a junior officer take charge of the scene even though he
response to the dilemma appeared to be the more prudent response. I thought of
cutting corners to shave of the time on the call. Ultimately I conceded that
his idea was the proper step to take and I allowed him to take over and handle
the situation.
The second involved the training of
a specific topic on active shooter response. The initial response that I had
was to think that we have had several active shooting situations throughout
this country and I would use these scenarios to base my training on. Upon closer
analysis I quickly found that these specific scenarios had many differences. Even
though the fundamental was the same the variables involved were not. I chose to
maintain a fluid response to this training and see where the participants took
the training. In essence the students trained themselves and I acted as a
facilitator on this training and I was very pleased with the outcome.
The ways I feel this can improve my
decision making are the fact that one I need to slow my thinking down. Two I need
to look at the variables individually and attempt
to answer each variable. Three I looked at the methods that I was using to
answers these issues and respond according to the issue. Four I need to gain
more peer influence and not think that just because I am the supervisor it
doesn’t mean I have all the answers. And finally I need to look at the way I break
down the issue and try and gauge what my response is usually and anticipate
changes to the variable and adapt to these changes.
