Title: Who Really Makes the Big Decisions in Your Company?
Headings: Who Really Makes the Big Decisions in Your Company?
Decision making
Who Really Makes the Big Decisions in Your Company?
The Unnamed Decision Makers
Acknowledge that the nameless decision-making teams exist, and ask how you can make more deliberate use of them.
Why Senior Teams Don’t Make the Big Decisions
The Virtues of the Kitchen Cabinet
Building a Better Kitchen Cabinet
The kitchen cabinet frees the CEO from the tyranny of the org chart.
Small groups are much better than large groups at considering critical decisions.
The kitchen cabinet’s small size and its composition foster candor and discretion.
Cabinet membership isn’t fixed, so CEOs can get precisely the counsel they need when they need it.
The group has no name, so people can’t easily lobby to be included.
A Better Use of the Top Team’s Time
Establish a common worldview as the basis for decision making.
Broadly prioritize initiatives.
Allocate resources and manage dependencies.
Attitude Adjustment for the Senior Management Team
Having regular dialogue about the senior team’s worldview is one hallmark of a strategically well-managed business.

Content: This apparent conflict can lead to very real problems, most notably these: The senior team is brought in too late in the process for its input to matter. The team members appear to have power to protect the interests of the departments they oversee—but they really don’t. The way the CEO actually makes decisions is unacknowledged and underconsidered. Rather than trying to resolve the conflict in favor of one team or another, I’d like to suggest a simpler approach: Acknowledge that these nameless teams exist and ask how you can make more deliberate use of them, along with the senior management team. After all, as any CEO will tell you, neither team is ultimately responsible for the company’s major decisions. That’s the job of the CEO, who can—and should—have access to the best possible advice. Acknowledge that the nameless decision-making teams exist, and ask how you can make more deliberate use of them. Why Senior Teams Don’t Make the Big Decisions
Over the course of a year, a senior management team sees itself making lots of decisions, many of which generate little dissent.