Andy is a senior leader for the service arm of a well-known north Texas construction firm. Andy does his best to get out in front of the “firefights” that are so common in the construction world. In fact, he leads his team through annual business planning to define goals for the next year. But even with this effort, Andy always used to find himself in a reactive mode. Though he created a business plan, he was always behind and his team was always off track.

Up to this point, Andy didn’t realize that business plans are only as good as the daily decisions that are required to carry them out. The best plans are made with the best intentions. But the contractor’s everyday decision-making habits often short-circuit their best plans. Andy hadn’t yet been introduced to the simple solution of making one proactive decision per day.

The action items in Andy’s business plan are color coded:

• green = complete
• yellow = on track
• red = stalled or late

Andy started each new year with on track action items and excitement for the opportunities ahead. But each year, at his mid-year check-in, at least 1/3 of his action items were in the red (stalled or late). What went wrong?

Andy’s everyday decision-making was determined by one thing: felt pressure. He focused on the immediate fires and delayed decision-making for long-term items until they created more pressure (fires). In other words, he lived in a reactive pattern.

Andy’s decision-making pattern is the default tendency for humans: to postpone decisions (big or small) until they hurt, until the fire is too big to ignore. (For example, you probably don’t think about what to eat for lunch until your stomach rumbles.) It’s understandable; good decisions take good thought. And bigger decisions usually require more preparation.

But here’s the problem: delayed decision-making patterns lead to delayed decision-making habits. So the default habit becomes focusing on what’s urgent and postponing decisions until they become painful. And just like Andy, this delayed decision-making causes contractors to choose impulsive quick fixes for critical decisions. And so they drift away from their business plan, production schedules and profitability.

FIX THE QUICK FIX HABIT

With Andy’s solid business plans in mind, he changed his daily behavior to develop the habit of consistent, proactive decision-making. 

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