As you are aware that everybody in life from a simple common man, student, housewife, top government officials including IPS, IAS, Corporate executive from top-notch managers to CXOs all are taking the decision on a day-to-day basis. The severity of decision making is the same for everyone in his or her own perspective.
Let’s debate that decision making is a technical or non-technical process or we can put in another way whether Decision making is a domain-specific process or not.
Some of the countries across the globe are led by a specialist or some are run by a generalist.
As you are aware that Indian bureaucracy as an inheritance is a generalist led nation from the legacy of England where civil servants are running the country since long after qualifying a common entrance test having some general compulsory exams like General Science, English and Hindi plus two subjects from a list of optional subjects.
Later on, they are being deputed in various departments and at last being made head of commerce, industry, science and technology, transportation, education, etc.
I hope by now you have a fair idea of whether decision making is a technical or non-technical process.
Let’s see that decision making is a rational and non-technical process which does not require domain-specific knowledge by the person assigned to take the decision.
Decision making is simply a process of selecting the best option out of available once.
I still remember an incident narrated by my boss approx 25 years ago. He informed me that in old days head of units are civil servants from Govt of India in some of PSUs and the Unit head had usually don’t have frequent visits to Plants and they manage from administrative offices constructed outside of process plants at that time and visit of the unit head in a process plant is a special occasion where preparations are being made in advance. Once there was some interruption in one of the plants due to some gasket leakage in the process plant. For the knowledge of non-technical people I would like to elaborate that Gasket is the essential material required to join two pipes with the help of nut and bolts.
The maintenance head explained that there was a leakage in one process line hence plant had to stop for replacement of gasket than the unit head replied why you use gaskets when it can have chances of leakage. The maintenance head, later on, explained and update the significance and importance of gasket used for joining pipelines which produced leak proof joint. Hence non-technical guys with the support of SMEs down the line run the process plants.
Hence Exploration of all available options or alternatives with the involvement of SME ( Subject Matter Expert ) is required. SME can appraise all available options to decision-makers authorized to take the decision. After evaluating all available options with due diligence on the consequence of each option and selecting best option out of all available options is the final step of decision making, And the final decision on same can be taken by an authorized person or the person responsible for having overall authority to make the final choice.
At last let sum up the process of decision making in three simple steps.
