Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions are important. Who makes them. Why they're being made. When they get made. What the intended consequences are. What the unintended consequences are. Those are all important things about decisions. And there's another important thing that I didn't mention. That's how they're made.

Sometimes making a decision is complicated. Like choosing a U.S. President. First you have to jump through the hoops to get on the ballot. Then the eligible people vote in their states. The states count the votes, and the results of the people's vote is announced. Next, the state legislatures choose some other people (the number chosen based on the number of Senators and Congresscritters) who then go off in a room somewhere and have another vote. The person who gets a majority in that count is then declared to be President. Lots of moving parts, and it takes months.

Other decisions are simple. Most of us have a dominant hand, and when we need to write something down we use that hand. Not a lot of thinking about consequences, involving others, or taking time. Just pick up a pen and write something down.

At work we're all decision makers. The hard part knowing how those decisions should get made. In really broad strokes, there's a continuum, from autocratic to consensus to unanimity. A good way to approach it is to think about the scope of the decision. The name of a temporary variable in a loop in a function has small scope, and the developer should pick the name and use it. That would be the wrong time to call a meeting. collect ideas, and then discuss until everyone agrees that you've picked the perfect name.

On the other hand, if you're designing an API you need to ensure that your customers will actually want to use it. Again, you're not going to wait until everyone agrees that the API is perfect for all of their different use cases, but you should have consensus among the group that the API isn't unusable.

And on rare occasions, it can be necessary for everyone to be fully committed. If success requires everyone to actively participate then making sure everyone is in full agreement is critical. Those situations aren't common, but when they occur, everyone needs to agree. 

Of course, sometimes you can't get to consensus, let alone unanimity. It could be because of viewpoint, conflicting goals, or simply lack of time. In those cases, after trying to get consensus on the API, someone needs to, with understanding of the use cases, and ensure that what's truly required can be done, make an autocratic decision.

And regardless, once the decision is made, everyone needs to work with the decision.