Reactive Decision Making

People tend to make decisions reactively when confronted with emergency situations or when a disaster unfolds. In these circumstances, the best decisions tend to be those that have been thought through and rehearsed ahead of time, a good example being use of a pre-prepared evacuation plan when the office catches fire. The normal decision-making process generally involves:

1. Defining the problem.
2. Collecting necessary information.
3. Developing options.
4. Devising a plan.
5. Executing.
6. Following up.

However reactive decision-making is, well, reactive. Because of this, there's not usually time to execute this full decision-making process, meaning that it's all-too-easy to make a bad decision when under pressure.

What this means is that actions to be taken in an emergency should be carefully planned for beforehand so that you can act appropriately when an event occurs. This may include, for example, devising contingency plans for what to do when a supplier ships poor quality goods when you are on a very tight deadline, or planning how to get essential systems back online if your office premises are burgled and computers are stolen.

Planning for exceptional reactive decision making

When doing this, the first step is to look at the risks you face and determine if they have a high or low probability of occurring. You can use a Risk Assessment Matrix to do this. To create a risk assessment matrix, draw a graph, matrix or simple table with a vertical axis marked "Consequences" and a horizontal axis marked as "Probability." Use a simple scale of 0 (very small) to 5 (very large). "Consequences" are credible potential worst-case scenarios that may develop. "Probabilities" are your best assessments of the likelihoods that individual consequences will occur.

Now brainstorm the possible consequences to which you're exposed, and then assess the risk of each consequence occurring. Where possible, base these assessments of risk on real-world evidence and experience. Then plot these on the RAM. You'll find that as you do this, your contingency planning priorities quickly becomes clear.

Keep in mind that using the RAM is not an exact science. What it is is a useful visual tool for looking at the relative importance of each risk. This will allow for better planning and optimal outcomes when reactive decision-making must be relied on.

But what to do when forced to make a reactive decision without having a plan in place? When this is the case, there is not time to complete a thorough RAM. Such a decision must be quickly made using appropriate reasoning, based on the best possible outcome.

Making unexpected decisions under pressure

For instance, a team leader unexpectedly walks off the job in the middle of the company's largest project, jeopardizing the project's outcome and negatively impacting other areas in which he or she is involved. Obviously, work must go on. This is when it is important to make a quick reactive decision based on perceived risks and possible consequences.

In such a case, it may be appropriate to gather the team and reassign certain tasks so that everyone involved is taking up some of the responsibility left by the departing team leader. Or, perhaps appointing a new team leader is the best reactive decision to make. Whatever the decision, make sure to make it based on what's best for all involved, while remaining mindful of the larger picture., ie, possible risks and consequences. Here it's often not possible to achieve a perfect outcome - what you're trying to do is control damage as best you can.