IBM, Watson, and Business Decisions

IBM has developed a computer named Watson. It’s huge and it has A.I. as well as a healthy dose of ‘machine learning’. Whatever that means.

IBM also talks about the power it has to help you run a business. It can answer questions utilising a vast amount of data. Some people even think it can replace at least one role in an organisation. Technically, it can’t make decisions yet, unless the decisions fall into the questioning it covers. So basic logic, yes. Initiative and decisiveness, no.

Running a business requires decision making. Hundreds of decisions a day in fact, and some of them are pretty serious. There are decisions to be made in the hiring process, for example. Watson couldn’t choose an employee effectively because the best companies work on more than just an application letter to hire people. Intuition and gut feeling are not binary.

If you’re an entrepreneur who is faced with decisions every day and you find that it is becoming difficult to make a choice on something, you could be heading for trouble. At the very least you could face problems from your employees, who don't fancy being a part of something that has no direction. They could develop a lack of confidence, and when that particular rot sets in, you’re in deep.

At the worst end of the problem, you could be looking at a situation where your business doesn't move forward. Instead it just fights fires, deals with daily stuff, and generally waits for the next big problem. That’s why ‘lurching from crisis to crisis’ isn’t a new phrase.

Sharpening up your decision-making is therefore vital for any business. And if you’re an entrepreneur who is building her own empire brick by brick and you’re indecisive, you’ll be gone within a couple of years. Entrepreneurs and business owners need a huge number of skills to keep things moving forward. Decision-making is a significant one.

There are, however, a number of ways to develop these skills quickly.

Take things step by step

Don’t focus on the problems ahead, or how next week’s meeting is going to go if you don't handle the problem in front of you today. Instead, focus on every moment, and divide up problems and challenges into small manageable steps. This could be done with all manner of decisions, they don't even have to be problem-related. It could be something as simple as choosing which prospect to pitch next. With that scenario, don't focus on the end goal of gaining a lucrative cient, put all of your energies into the pitching process. Get it done step by step and focus only on what is happening now and in the next stage of the process.

It’s hard to make decisions when you're anxious, or even when you’re excited. To prevent missing an opportunity or fluffing one, take it all step by step and create multiple little decisions.

Give it the time it deserves

Big decisions are often overwhelming. So give them a short period of time. Don't hang on to a decision for the whole day or week. Instead, give decisions you have to make a maximum of three minutes thinking time. We know that sometimes big decisions need days and weeks, but the majority of what you face as a business owner will fall into the the ‘three minute’ area.

Someone once told me that big problems will always seem laughable within a year. This makes sense to me, because that’s exactly what has happened with all of my big problems. It’s the same with decisions. If you give them three minutes, you can give them the time they deserve before choosing a path to go down.

Remember you are an adult and you’re in this position because you chose to be. Decisiveness is often quick. Give the decisions you face three minutes. You’ll be surprised at how much stuff actually gets done.

Don't fear the future

This is kind of like living in the moment. The majority of business owners and entrepreneurs who struggle with decisions do so because they feel the impact could be damaging if it is the wrong choice. That’s natural. We’re human.

This all leads to paralysis though. By accepting our fear of mistakes and the fact that other people will (always) judge you, you’ll feel liberated. Remember that a bad decision rarely results in harm to anyone. And it’s highly unlikely that someone will die. Just make the decisions with a clear head and an objective view. If you want to really add some ammo here, analyse the possible outcomes of all the choices you have. We guarantee that nothing looks as scary on paper as it does in your head.

Benefits and disadvantages

This stuff you will have been taught in school. When struggling with a decision, write down one of the choices on a piece of paper (and we mean paper, computer screens just don't work for this part, we think) and then list all the advantages and disadvantages that could possibly arise after taking that decision. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, you have a clear course of action.

And if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, you still have a clear course of action.

You get the picture. Granted, if you have numerous options it can be a little long-winded but it will certainly make it easier to develop easier decisions,

You brought this on yourself

As a kind of postscript to the above, just remember one thing. You chose to be what you are right now. As an entrepreneur, you should expect to face decisions every day, every minute. If this isn’t working for you, then you need to ask yourself why you are doing this.

But we know one thing for certain. The more decisions you make, the better you will become at it. The better you become, the more effective you will become. And that’s how a business grows.

Even Watson knows that.