The Four Spaces of Team Decision Making

Getting team agreement on a decision has always felt like herding cats. But it’s a bit trickier now with hybrid working. Not everyone is on the same page or even in the same window. So, here’s a way to refresh team decision making.

It’s all about the “space “ of the decision. Many decisions can be made easily because there’s enough shared information and the problem has been faced before. This is “predictable space”. But most problems now seem to arise in “non-predictable space” where the future is uncertain and any decision might turn out to be a surprising win or a terrible failure. And then there is the “external space” where the elements of the problem are largely visible and “out there”, which contrasts with the “internal space” of your perceptions, doubts, biases, and imagination about the problem.

This creates a classic 4-square matrix of the problem space which yields four separate approaches defined by the WISE Framework: Widen - Interrogate - Sense - Enact

Enact a way forward by making a decision and acting on it

If the problem sits in the lower right-hand quadrant then it is in relatively predictable space and you are likely to have the internal resources, such as experience to solve it. All you need to do is Enact a way forward by making a decision and acting on it. Here are some questions which you and your team members can apply:

1. What can I start doing now?

2. What is an appropriate threshold for me to take action?

3. In what ways can I experiment or prototype these actions?

4. What can I learn from this?

Interrogate the reality of the situation, not how you wish it to be

When the problem is predictable but you don’t have enough information you need analyze the data which exists “out there” and identify some options. This is the upper right-hand quadrant where it’s important to Interrogate the reality of the situation without being influenced by how you wish it to be. These questions may be useful to consider:

1. What would have to be true for each of these options to be  the best possible choice?

2. What am I prepared to give up for this option to become a reality?

3. What’s the biggest obstacle to this being the right decision?

4. In what ways could this response fail?

Widen your view to see many more possibilities

However, most problem are now increasingly showing up in the non-predictable space where resources are external but uncertainty exists about how to use them. This is the top left-hand quadrant where you need to Widen your view so you can take in the whole landscape. See if you can address these questions:

1. Instead of ‘either/or’ or ‘whether-or-not’, what other options are there?

2. What is most important to me/us right now?

3. In what ways could my/our opinion be incorrect?

4. Who has solved this problem before? (Google it.)

Sense the future, which is different from gut feeling or intuition

The greatest opportunities and the greatest risks are in the bottom left-hand quadrant in non-predictable space where you are likely facing the interior elements of doubt, dilemma, or disruption. There is no right answer and you may have to choose the least worst option. This is where you need to sit with the problem and Sense what the emerging future might look like. These questions will be important to deal with problems in this critical space:

1. In the current moment and looking forward to the next two to three years, what future do I/we want to create?

2. Where in my/our own being and in my/our environment can I find the seeds of the future now?

3. What is the essence of this issue? What is my/our deep knowing about this issue?

4. What might other people who are watching me/us make this decision think or feel?

Apply the WISE Framework to Team Decision Making

Use the WISE Framework to cover the space of the problem when making a team-based decision. Designate a team member to take the position of Widening perspectives on the problem by asking the four key questions. Allocate the role of Interrogating the reality of the current situation to another team member with reference to those questions. Suggest a different team member take the place of Sensing the nature of the problem and addressing the related questions. And have a team member adopt the position of asking questions to help Enact a way forward. No reason why you can’t have more than one team member for each role in a big group.

To find out more, download the FREE chapter from the book here.