Opinion: The 5 Ms for strategic decision-making
BY MANDI McREYNOLDS | Global community relations manager, Principal Financial Group Inc.
Have you ever stood in front of your closet and just stared? In a haze, you think, “I just cannot make one more decision even as simple as what I am going to wear today.” Or you’re on your way out the door with your family and friends for the evening, thinking, “I don’t care where we go … just, please, someone else decide.”
We have all had those moments. The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. One study found that we make over 200 food-related decisions a day! No wonder we sometimes have decision fatigue; our brain has been working on overload, making hundreds of subconscious and conscious decisions.
Multiple decisions come with the cost of human, financial and cultural capitals to consider. Each requires deep emotional and logical engagement. From entrepreneurs to executives to stay-at-home parents, we all struggle with how to stay focused, consider these costs and navigate the strategic decision-making process of our lives.
Other Lift guest opinions have touched on this topic, such as “The Importance of Follow-Through” and “Why Saying No is OK.” Today, we are going to dive deeper into how to support ourselves in making strategic choices.
Discovering the 5 M’s
Working in community relations, many of which were startup programs, launching a consulting business, and actively engaging with my family, my daily decision load has quadrupled in the past decade. I needed a fast system for determining what was going to fall into strategic alignment with the ecosystem of my life. I crafted the 5 M’s reflection questions to serve as an emotion- and logic-based guide to making short- and long-term decisions.
How the 5 M’s work
Requests, ideas or projects come to you through a person, a phone call, social media, or email. PAUSE. Ask yourself the 5 M’s reflection questions and answer.
5 M reflection questions
Is it ‘missional’?
Does it support my personal, professional, department or organization mission statement? What could be changed to align better with the mission?
Is it meaningful?
Does this matter to you or the organization you are supporting? Will it support you developing a new competency? Will it add value to the organization? Is someone else a better fit for the requests?
Is it measurable?
How will you know if this is successful? Has a needs assessment been done to determine if this decision needs to be made?
Is it manageable?
Do I have the time and capacity to accomplish this decision? Is it possible to defer the project or request for a year or a few months? What will need to change to make this decision manageable?
Is it momentous?
Will you look back and remember you did this? Will you look back and wish you did this?
If you say no to two of these questions, pause and review. If you say no to three of these questions, just say NO!
The 5 M’s were posted in the most visible spot in my office. When I had to make a quick decision, I would glance at it. I added it to my weekly planning. I would review my schedule, values, mission, vision, goals and the 5 M’s. It allowed me at the front end of my week to change a schedule and re-examine the answers. When asked to engage in a monthly commitment or long-term project, I reviewed the 5 M’s.
Practice the 5 M’s
Make the time to reflect on your answers. Which of the 5 M’s are a no? Use the dive deeper reflections questions for answers. If I said no to meaningful, could I recommend someone who is a better fit for the request? If the project were tweaked, would it be more measurable or “missional”? Do I have the responsibility and authority to seek those changes and areas of support to meet this request? In life, we do not have the authority or ability to always say no. Diving deeper into the prompts allows you to formulate responses for what you could change to turn the request into the reasonable yes, for how you can more directly say yes but offer a different course of action. It also can give you context and validation for saying no.
When you say yes to three, double-check yourself:
Which of the five is the hardest for you to make sound judgment calls? I am an optimist. When I look at the calendar or a meeting, I think, “Oh, I can squeeze just one more in” or “I am sure I can find time for this project if it is important.”
When I say yes to “Is it manageable?,” I have to pause and double-check my answer. I ask more questions related to the project, the timelines, responsibilities and demands. I talk it over with my personal board of directors like my spouse, close network of peers or supervisor. Many answers have changed to a no because I have taken the time to review and double-check my optimist self.
The gift of focus
The 5 M’s serve as an empowering rubric. They allow us to say goodbye to regret or remorse when our decisions are grounded and in alignment with our emotions and logic. We have context and the ability to articulate our reasoning for our answers to strategic decisions.
Action checklist for your strategic decision strategy:
- What action can you take today to start building a strategy for managing strategic decisions?
- Where can you place your tool so it’s visible and a reference point when you need to make strategic decisions?
- Who can you trust within your network to help you be accountable to strong strategic decision-making?
Mandi McReynolds is an award-winning author, educator and practitioner-scholar. McReynolds is the co-editor and co-author of the book “Diving Deep in Community Engagement: A Model for Professional Development.” She is the owner of Mandi McReynolds Consulting. She has spent her career building community relations and leadership programs at a Fortune 300 company, three different higher education institutions, and a statewide nonprofit. She received her B.A. in organizational communications from Cedarville University and M.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Speech Communication, Women Studies, and Higher Education from Iowa State University. She was named in 2015 to the Des Moines Business Record Forty under 40 and is a 2015 graduate of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute.
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