Problem solving and decision making are not the only activities of a manager, but they are extremely important ones. Much of your success as a manager will depend on your ability to make the right decisions. Often, those decisions will be related to choosing the best of several good resolutions to problems; other times, those decisions will involve a judgment call between two or more alternative courses, both with downsides.
Because decision making is the final step in problem solving, decision making is often treated solely as it relates to problem solving. But more insights into both decision-making and problem solving can be gained by looking at them as two distinct competencies.
Let’s begin with the ability to make good decisions.