When the pressure is on, leaders can feel expected to have an answer before they have fully understood the question. A quick decision may create momentum, but it can also carry an untested assumption into every action that follows. Taking time to ask a better question is part of the work of leading.
Start with the decision, not the noise
A useful first question is: what decision actually needs to be made? A conversation about an underperforming business unit might really be about priorities, capability, accountability or the way success is measured. Naming the decision helps the team separate the immediate symptoms from the underlying issue.
Ask each person to describe the problem in a sentence. Where the descriptions differ, explore the difference before moving to solutions. Agreement on a solution has limited value if the team has not agreed on the problem it is meant to address.
Make your assumptions visible
An assumption does not become a fact because it has been repeated. Put the main assumptions behind a proposal on the table and ask which are supported by direct observation, which are interpretations and which are still unknown. This creates space for a more honest discussion without requiring perfect information.
- What do we know from direct evidence?
- What are we assuming about customers, colleagues or the market?
- Whose perspective would challenge our current view?
- What would make us change our mind?
Choose a useful next step
A good conversation should end with more than interesting questions. Decide what can be done now, who will do it and what you need to learn. Where possible, distinguish between a reversible next step and a commitment that will be difficult to change.
The aim is not to remove uncertainty. It is to help the team make a considered decision, understand its reasoning and recognise when new information requires a different response. That is a more useful form of confidence than pretending to know everything.
An editorial perspective for general discussion. This article does not report a client engagement or commissioned research.