Where senior decisions actually go wrong
Rarely through lack of intelligence or information. The recurring causes are structural and predictable.
- The decision is never actually made. It is deferred through repeated discussion until circumstances decide it. This is the most common failure and it rarely feels like a decision at the time.
- The wrong question is being answered. Considerable effort goes into “which vendor” when the real question is whether to do the project.
- Nobody in the room disagrees. Unanimous agreement among twelve people is almost never real; the disagreement moved to private channels.
- Sunk cost. Continuing because of what has already been spent, which is the most reliably documented decision error in the literature.
- Deciding while emotionally loaded. Not irrationality — just that anger and anxiety narrow the option set, and the narrowing is invisible from inside.
What coaching does about it
Coaching does not supply the answer, which is precisely why it helps with decisions. A consultant analysing your options gives you their judgement. A coach works on the process producing yours, so the improvement persists into the next decision.
In practice the interventions are unglamorous. Naming the actual decision rather than the presenting one. Asking what you would need to believe for the rejected option to be right. Separating the decision from the anxiety attached to it. Making a deadline explicit so deferral stops being the default. Checking whether the people who disagree have said so anywhere you would hear.
The question that does most of the work
“What would have to be true for the other option to be correct?”
It forces you to build the strongest version of the case against your preference, which is the step confirmation bias skips. Most leaders discover either that the alternative is weaker than they feared, or that it hinges on one assumption nobody has checked.
Deciding under genuine uncertainty
Senior work is mostly decisions on 60% of the facts. Waiting for 90% reads as an inability to carry risk, and the information often never arrives. The practical alternatives are to make the decision reversible where possible, decide what evidence would change your mind before committing, and set a review date rather than an escalation trigger.
The last one matters: decisions reviewed only when something goes wrong get reviewed too late.
Frequently asked questions
How does coaching improve decision making?
By working on the process rather than the specific decision. Coaching helps you identify the actual question, surface assumptions you have not tested, separate the decision from the anxiety attached to it, and set explicit deadlines so deferral stops being a default. The improvement carries into future decisions, which advice does not.
What is the most common decision-making mistake leaders make?
Not deciding. Deferring through repeated discussion until circumstances decide instead, which rarely feels like a failure at the time because each individual postponement seems reasonable.
Should I use a coach or a consultant for a big decision?
A consultant if you need domain expertise and a recommendation on this specific decision. A coach if you keep encountering the same pattern — deciding too slowly, avoiding conflict in the decision, or discovering afterwards that nobody voiced their disagreement.
How do you decide with incomplete information?
Make it reversible where you can, decide in advance what evidence would change your mind, and set a review date rather than waiting for something to go wrong. Waiting for near-complete information usually means the decision gets made by default.