One of the critical responsibilities of leadership is to make decisions. Everyone in the lab relies on the lab manager to make regular, prompt decisions. When decisions are delayed or not made, the lab slows and may grind to a halt, depending on the decision required. Unfortunately, lab managers rarely have all the information needed to comfortably make decisions. Part of adjusting to a leadership role is learning to make decisions with incomplete data and to work in a volatile, changing environment. The key is to reframe uncertainty as a condition of lab management, not a failure of leadership, and take steps to be effective in this environment. Here are three things that lab managers can do to help make decisions in the face of uncertainty to benefit the lab:
#1 – Separate
For many of us, a key to sanity is to separate what we know, what we assume, and what we don’t know. Being explicit about these separations clarifies the level of uncertainty around any specific decision. Rigorously documenting assumptions improves the transparency of the process and provides clear documentation about how the decision was made. If the decision goes poorly, reviewing the assumptions provides a clear starting point for making adjustments and moving in a different direction.
#2 – Focus on risk
Shift the discussion from “are we sure?” to “what’s the risk?” Because of insufficient data, being sure becomes very difficult and rare. Shifting the discussion to risk enables the lab manager and their leadership team to qualitatively address the unknowns in terms of risk. Most labs have experience in dealing with risk assessment and mitigation through their safety, quality, or project management programs. There is more experience in assigning and discussing risks than in being certain. The relative risk will determine the priority of actions and help identify situations where incremental decisions can be made to pilot options and gather additional data.
#3 – Distinguish reversible and irreversible decisions
Most decisions around the lab can be changed or reversed. However, there are some difficult decisions that, once made, are irreversible. Distinguishing these situations helps lab managers know when to tread more carefully and be more confident in their decisions. Examples of irreversible decisions include firings, layoffs, and equipment purchases. Knowing that a decision is irreversible helps to define when uncertainty is less acceptable. Developing some guardrails for these high-risk situations can help generate more consistent decisions.
Making decisions with insufficient data is part of leadership and lab management. A better understanding of the risks involved, the development of guardrails, and incremental decision-making can all buffer the lab against the uncertainty plaguing its most important and highest-risk decisions. The key is to continue making decisions, even when you have far less information than you would like. The lab depends on your decisions; postponing or delaying is a decision. Most of the time, your decisions can be modified if an assumption is proved wrong.
