Earlier this month, I wrote about the Corps Leadership Principles. If you recall, I was quite impressed with the eleven principles the Marine Corps teaches and reflected on how those same standards apply to you and me today.
In this article, I would like to introduce you to another teaching from the Marine Corps that I believe applies directly to our personal and professional lives. It’s called “The 70 Percent Solution.”
As you might imagine, the US Marine Corps Officer Candidate School puts a lot of emphasis on taking charge and acting decisively. Its goal is to teach future officers to take command and act decisively with incomplete information.
While the decisions a Marine officer must make on the battlefield and the decisions you and I make on a daily basis may not be the same, the premise of making quick decisions without having all the necessary information is a concept that is worth considering. Incorporating the “70 percent solution” could be a tactic you’ll want to incorporate into your management playbook.
It’s always a good idea to get consensus on decisions that will affect an operational initiative or our team. In most cases, we have time to think about a problem and get input from colleagues or those who work for us, but this is not always the case.
Some situations, however, require a quick decision. In these cases, incorporating the concept of the 70 percent solution might not be a bad way to go. When we’re in 70 percent decision-making mode, we just don’t have all the facts, but we do have a clear understanding of the problem or challenge.
With an understanding of the big picture, seeing what needs to be achieved, we can communicate what we want to achieve. After doing so, we can communicate the challenge to subordinates or other team members, who will determine how the issue will be resolved.
At this point, however, we must either be tolerant of mistakes being made, or accept the understanding that the problem may not be resolved in the way that we would.
This is the point: we don’t need all the facts to make a calculated decision. What we do need is a good understanding of the challenge and a bias for action. If we make a calculated decision based on limited but accurate data, we’ll probably be fine.
Dr. Warren Bennis, a recognized authority in the field of leadership, believes that effective leaders are motivated by (1) the desire to accomplish a stated goal, (2) the ability to build trust, communicate optimism, and a willingness to action.
Focusing on the big picture, having a clear understanding of the overall challenge, is the main role of the leader. But a leader must also be realistic. That means there are times when an individual or organizational leader must move forward without having all the data necessary to make the perfect decision.
What we are looking for here is direction, not perfection. The 70 percent solution is a way to move in the right direction, to demonstrate a bias for action, and to show those who follow us that we are not going to suffer from “analysis paralysis.”