Mean Reversion In Decision Making

One misunderstanding of leadership I’ve observed is what I call “mean reversion in decision making.”

When faced with a difficult decision, executives often gather information and call a meeting with impacted stakeholders. Good leaders ask thoughtful questions and listen carefully. But too often, they then take everyone’s opinions and settle on the average — the compromise that makes the most people moderately happy.

That’s management malpractice. A leader’s job isn’t to satisfy the majority; it’s to do what’s right for the business. And the right decision, especially a tough one, is often far from the mean.

Doing unpopular things is hard — but that’s the job. If you find your hardest decisions are generally fairly popular with your team, you might be doing it wrong.