Decision Making

Good Decision Making is for Everyone

At Koch companies, more employees are involved in decision making than is typical in many organizations. That’s because Principle Based Management guides us to take a bottom-up, principle-based approach to everything we do.

As an employee, there are many ways you might be involved in decisions, including:

Identifying ways to improve and transform
Requesting resources, tools or support
Raising issues and problems that need attention
Creating, analyzing and recommending alternatives
Sharing knowledge, perspectives or expertise to help others make decisions
Being the primary decision maker for a project, resource, team, etc.
Determining how to spend your time and other important decisions associated with your work

Decision-Making Principles & Frameworks

The following help us identify and evaluate tradeoffs and avoid decision traps so we can make the most of our scarce resources (including our time).

Principle/Framework	Connection To Decision Making
Economic Thinking	Good economic thinking is the foundation for effective decisions. These principles help us understand the tradeoffs involved so we can create the greatest value. There are many economic thinking principles, including marginal analysis and opportunity cost.
Decision-Making Framework (DMF)	A disciplined approach to decision-making that promotes using the best knowledge to explore the full range of outcomes, identify ways to optimize risk, discover the best alternative and prioritize the path forward.
Division of Labor by Comparative Advantage	This principle helps us make good decisions about who is working on what so the team as a whole maximizes the value it can create.
Risk	A key aspect of good decision making is appropriately considering risks. As an employee you are expected to apply Koch’s risk philosophy, not your own. Good risk-adjusted decision making also involves avoiding various decision traps. For Koch Employees: Learn more by visiting our internal Risk Optimization site.
Measures	Beneficial measures create knowledge that informs decision making and helps evaluate the results of decisions.

Culture Also Matters

The following principles establish the foundation and expectations for creating an inclusive team environment where diverse knowledge and perspectives are valued as essential aspects of decision making.

Principle	CONNECTION TO DECISION MAKING
Challenge	Teams that engage in effective challenge are far more likely to generate creative alternatives, identify and address issues and seek the knowledge needed to make good decisions.
Contribution Motivated	People who are contribution motivated have many attributes that can improve decisions, such as: the desire to contribute positively, seeking mutually beneficial results, finding creative solutions, considering long-term implications and courageously dealing with the unknown.
Humility	Humility prompts us to understand reality, acknowledge strengths and limitations, be open to new information and insights, continually learn, value diverse perspectives, and adjust our thinking and approach as needed.
Knowledge	Valuable knowledge comes in many forms and from many sources both inside and outside the organization. We need a culture where people seek knowledge and proactively share their knowledge to improve decisions and results.
Integrity Stewardship & Compliance	Making good decisions involves more than numbers – it includes respecting the rights of others and doing the right thing, even when it’s difficult.
Accountability	Employees who hold themselves accountable for the quality and outcomes of their decisions seek feedback and coaching so they can continually develop their decision-making skills.

Improving Your Decision-Making Skills

Learn by Doing
Apprenticing and Mentoring
Stories and Case Studies
Learn from Past Decisions
Training

Apply decision-making principles to your work. Collaborate with and get feedback from your supervisor and coworkers. Use what you learn to improve decisions.

Get assistance and coaching from someone more skilled than you.

Past successes and failures can help you understand and apply our decision-making principles. This can happen through informal conversations with coworkers or published stories and cases from across the organization.

Analyzing and reflecting on past decisions (both good and bad) can help you make better decisions in the future. This could involve getting individual feedback about your decisions or the team coming together to reflect on a larger team initiative.

Training on specific tools, techniques and related PBM principles can be effective when relevant to your work.

DECISION MAKING

On This Page

Good Decision Making is for Everyone

Decision-Making Principles & Frameworks

Culture Also Matters

Improving Your Decision-Making Skills