Every mid-size service firm leader I spoke with had one overriding question once the pandemic hit—what do we do now? Answering that question required a level of soul-searching unlike anything my clients had done before. Leaders had to analyze their situation, predict what they thought might happen, put forward potential action plans, critique and rethink those plans and ultimately—decide on a course of action and execute. That, my friends, is deliberation in a nutshell.

It’s about how leadership teams make decisions with imperfect information, an evolving playing field and unpredictable outcomes. Service firm leadership teams that get good at deliberation reap a lot of benefits. They don’t make bad decisions. They move forward with confidence, even when things are unclear. They inspire their team to take action. That results in growth. But deliberation is a muscle that you have to work all the time to keep it in shape. If you want the benefits, you have to do the workouts. Here are some ideas to help your team become a deliberation powerhouse.

Who Needs To Deliberate?

Leadership councils made up of seven people should tackle deliberation. My recommendation is that your council leverages a best-idea-wins decision-making model. This is about applying the meat grinder to every possible decision through a formal and repeatable deliberation process. In just a moment I’ll describe how to do this. But first, I want to point out a common mistake I see when it comes to decision-making at mid-size service firms—ceding too much decision-making power to too few people.

This is especially problematic when a founder or two hold all of the equity of the business. These types of firms rarely grow beyond a certain level. One of the main reasons for this is because, to grow a service firm, thousands of decisions have to be made and it’s nearly impossible for one or two people to make all of those decisions.

However, even firms with just a few or only one equity stakeholder can still perfect deliberation so they grow faster and push through adversity. But to achieve this, the founders must intentionally foster the process of deliberation. They must enroll other leadership council members in the mindset and steps required to root out bad ideas and make good ideas even better.

So I want to make a simple recommendation. Separate ideas from people. This is especially important if an equity owner came up with an idea and introduced it to the leadership council. It’s far too easy for people who are less influential and powerful on a council to simply agree with a powerful equity holder. This means you never really get to tap into their wisdom, insights and most importantly, the problems they might see with that idea.

What Is Deliberation?

Deliberation, broken down into its simplest form, is about addressing three questions:

• The core question. Should we do this?
• Deliberation questions. How do we do this?
• Contingency questions. What do we do if things don’t work out as planned?

Let’s look at a question that many organizations are considering so this framework becomes real. The core question: Should we require people to return to the office full-time? Here are some deliberation questions leadership council members might grapple with:

• How do we think staff are likely to respond to this?
• How can we test the waters before making this an official policy?
• How do we handle exceptions, like sick children and contagious employees?
• How might this impact morale and retention?

The answers to these questions often bring up contingency questions. Here are some examples. What do we do if:

• We run a survey and it shows employees really DO NOT want to come back full-time?
• We implement the policy and the following quarter’s morale report shows a significant decline?
• We implement the policy and a key employee quits?
• We implement the policy and one powerful and influential employee simply doesn’t return to the office? 

This is not about analysis paralysis. This is about asking reasonable questions where your leadership council members can foresee potential problems. It’s also about having a game plan to address problems before they become real. This does not mean that your course of action is pre-determined. But it does mean you will already have thought about options so you can quickly pivot and improve outcomes.

The Importance Of The Vote

Once your deliberation process is complete, I recommend that you call for a vote. Every leadership council member should vote for the option that they think makes the most sense and should explain their reasoning. That is not to say that the will of the majority will automatically carry. Equity stakeholders should maintain the right to make the final decision. But they should do so with the full wisdom and insight of the council members they will rely on to help them implement the decision. 

How To Work Out Your Deliberation Muscle

One of the hallmarks of effective leadership councils is that they don’t make bad decisions. But to ensure this doesn’t happen at your organization, I have one simple suggestion. Deliberate on something that is low-stakes so you can be ready for something that is high-stakes. This goes back to my earlier comment about owners and founders intentionally fostering the deliberation process.

I recommend that you pick a small decision, one where the outcomes are not game-changing, and practice the deliberation process I recommend above. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to try to perfect deliberation when there’s something big on the line. Your deliberation muscle will be flabby, weak and ineffectual. This is like trying to build up endurance in the middle of running a marathon. You have to work your way up to being ready for the big race.

Want Even More Ideas?

The ideas I’ve put forward here are part of a comprehensive Leadership Operating Model for mid-size professional service firms. Deliberation is just one of numerous ideas I discuss in an eBook I’ve written. In fact, the eBook compares the leadership practices of most mid-size service firms with practices that I’ve helped organizations perfect over the last 25 years. If you really want to grow your service firm, I recommend that you carefully consider your Leadership Operating Model.

About The Author

Randy Shattuck is a seasoned entrepreneur who works hand-in-hand with senior leaders of mid-size professional service firms to grow revenues, acquire clients, open new markets, increase profits and effectively position their brands.