Step 3 in our process helps you reset a specific decision. It's like a surgical intervention: you go in and repair the trouble in order to restore the patient to health. We think of the four parts of this operation as fixing the What, Who, How, and When of the decision.

1. Clarify the What. The group involved in the decision first needs to know exactly what the decision is. It has to be spelled out clearly and framed correctly. When Ford Motor Co. was contemplating taking taxpayer bailout money, CEO Alan Mulally didn't frame the decision as 'yes or no'. Rather, he asked his team to decide what strategy would best maximize the long-term value of the company. That forced people to consider alternatives such as fixing the operations, merging with a competitor, seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and others, in addition to the bailout.
2. Determine the Who. The roles involved in the decision need to be equally clear. We use a decision-rights tool we call RAPID^®, which includes all the key roles. One person or group makes the Recommendation. Others provide Input. Still others must Agree, or sign off on the recommendation. One person or group then has the D—they make the final Decision. Others are assigned to Perform or execute it. If you spell out these roles clearly, everyone will know who's accountable for what.
3. Understand the How. Will the decision be made by consensus, by vote, or by one person? How will the necessary information be provided? Can the group agree on criteria for the decision in advance? Will there be more than one real alternative presented? Answering questions like these beforehand enables a decision to proceed much more smoothly than it otherwise would.
4. Make the When explicit. Every major decision needs timetables and deadlines. A schedule ensures that decisions are quickly followed by action, so that things happen rapidly and the hurdle to reopen the decision is high.

Intel's Embedded and Communications Group (ECG) put many of these tools to work in deciding which products to add to its "roadmap" for development. ECG's process specifies how people will play their roles, at what stage they will provide input, when a recommendation will be developed, how approval will be sought when necessary, and how the final decision will be reached. ECG also makes sure to communicate these decisions and the process that led to them to all concerned. "We developed a regular cadence of 'Here's what we've done, here's why we've done it,' to help people understand what's being added to the roadmap and why," says Doug Davis, who leads the group. "This has reduced the amount of revisiting we do by a lot."

Go to Step 4: Build an organization

®RAPID is a registered service mark of Bain & Company, Inc.