How to avoid six leadership decision traps

Trap 1: Solving the wrong problem

You state the problem, hear options, and start choosing – but if you frame the problem incorrectly, even a sound decision process will produce the wrong answer.

• The fix: Before considering options, explicitly frame the problem. Ask whether the framing is too narrow or too broad. Separate true constraints from assumed ones and reframe if needed.

Trap 2: Eliminating your best option

Before deliberation even begins, you dismiss options based on untested assumptions about what is possible.

• The fix: Test every assumption you have accepted as a given. For each constraint, ask: is this a fact or an assumption? Have we actually tested this boundary?

Trap 3: Having the wrong people in the room

Inclusive decision-making feels responsible but can be counterproductive. Blenko, Mankins, and Rogers identified the “Rule of Seven” – every person added to a decision-making group beyond seven reduces decision effectiveness by 10%. It’s also about who speaks and when. When the most senior leader speaks first, everyone else self-edits. Junior people with fresh perspectives hold back.

• The fix: In meetings, include only those who genuinely need to be part of the decision. Change the speaking order so that junior voices go first and the leader speaks last.

Trap 4: Fearing a bad decision more than not deciding

Rarely is “do nothing” put on the table as a choice with its own costs. The underlying fear is that a bad decision will be damaging and permanent – but most decisions are far more reversible than they feel in the moment.

• The fix: Before deliberating, classify the decision. Is it a one-way door or a two-way door? For two-way doors, bias toward speed. For one-way doors, slow down and invest in the process. Always make the cost of not deciding concrete and visible.

Trap 5: Thinking a decision has been made

This trap happens after the meeting ends. There was agreement, and the direction seemed clear – but nothing happens because people left without genuine buy-in. They then hedge their bets, expecting the strategy to shift, the executive to rotate, or new data to change the picture.

• The fix: Before anyone leaves the room, ask what people think they just agreed to. Clarify who is doing what, by when, and how you will follow up. If the room goes quiet, you know you have politeness, not commitment.

Trap 6: Not looking back

No one returns to ask whether the process was sound, whether the outcome was good or lucky, or what could be learned. Without this reflection, you will repeat your traps indefinitely, developing habitual blind spots and never building the pattern recognition that helps you improve.

• The fix: Always hold post-mortem reviews for important decisions. Ask whether you framed the problem correctly, whether the right people were involved, and whether agreement was genuine.