The Hidden Costs of Top-Down Decisions: A 7-Step System for Better Decisions

“Committing people to a new course of action without their input never works.” – Gavin Adams, from Big Shoes To Fill.

This statement is true. It’s especially true for leaders stepping into new roles with new teams.

The Gap Between Decisions and Execution

A great tension exists in every organization.

Leaders make most organizational decisions, yet those further down the organization are primarily responsible for executing these decisions.

This is the tension. Consider how this feels when you’re not included at the decision table. You’re working extremely hard to orchestrate the current strategy and expectations. The “leadership” sets these strategies and expectations. You see the gaps and issues firsthand, though. After all, you’re closest to the implementation. It’s easy to assume the decision table is too far removed from their decisions, making their choices frustrating for people like you. This tension causes all sorts of issues in your heart and the hearts of your teammates.

When this tension festers, it births:

• Irritation and anger

• Poor morale

• Reduced Innovation

• Decreased Trust

• Lower Employee Engagement

• Resistance to Change

• High Turnover

• Ineffective Decision-Making

• Communication Breakdown

It’s easy to see why this tension cannot exist unchecked.

A Quick (and Bad Leadership) Story

I served as the lead pastor of Woodstock City Church for nearly 13 years. At our peak, we had 8,000 attending weekly, supported by 65 staff. With 36,000 people on our active roster, planning for things like Easter and Christmas was complicated. How many services should we offer? What times should we offer services? How many people can we fit with overflow spaces? When do we anticipate children attending?