Contributed by David Barron – david.barron@knowledge-infusion.com, Principal Consultant, Knowledge Infusion

At Knowledge Infusion, I spend most of my days helping clients navigate the complexities of making decisions around their HCM strategies and technology purchases. Those decisions are difficult, to say the least, because of the number of people involved, the business knowledge that each person brings, and the personal experiences of each individual. At times, the decision seems difficult, if not impossible. Let me put some perspective on the decisions we make every day…..

I recently had the opportunity (notice I didn’t say pleasure) to participate in the most basic civil service we have in the United States. I got the notice in the mail to show up for jury duty. Now I thought, as others probably do, not again. This is the 3rd time in 4 years. Not having a choice, I went on my scheduled date. The previous 2 times I had not been selected, but this time I went through the whole process and was selected to sit on a murder trial. WOW! The weight of it hit me like a ton of bricks. The man sitting in front of me would either go to jail or go free based on the decision of 12 total strangers.

So the process goes like this…..you have a notebook and a pen to record everything you see and hear for the period of the trial. Nothing else! No research on the internet, no consultant to ask questions of, and no help from the judge (other than the rule of law). And you can’t keep it at night. You can only read it during the day. Talk about pressure. I think I took 40 pages of notes over the two and a half days of the trial.

Then, the decision goes to the jury. Having heard and seen the evidence and referring to my notes, the decision is so obvious that I’m thinking maybe half an hour to come to a unanimous vote. I was so wrong. This is where the backgrounds and experience come in to play. Each person based on their interpretation of the law, their notes, and their views voted on a verdict. There was a clear divide among the jurors.

For the next three and a half days, we deliberated. The dynamics of the jury was probably similar to any organization. There were strong personalities, leaders, followers, loud arguers, soft spoken convincers, chalk board writers, readers of documents, “show me” people, and the “I don’t care if we sit here till H#@$ freezes over, I’m not changing my vote” people. It got so bad, one day we had to have the Sheriff sit in the room with us because the atmosphere was so heated. We even went to the judge on two occasions saying we were deadlocked.

But, the system works. The judge told us to go back to work, so we did. We talked and talked and talked and talked. We gave opinions and we listened. We listened. We Listened. Then, the most amazing thing happened. As more people were open to other people’s views and opinions, the evidence and the circumstances of the trial became clearer. The tone of the room changed to one of what is the right thing to do, not what I want to happen.

In the end, we made a unanimous decision that we all were proud to stand on. As the verdict was read, the court reporter had tears in her eyes. I think we did the right thing.

So, when your organization faces a tough decision that seems impossible to make; when everyone seems to have their own agenda; when no one can see an end in sight; when the project seems doomed to failure, think about 12 complete strangers deciding the fate of a person’s freedom. Then, go back to work.