The Decision Tree
Sometimes, decision-making can be difficult, slow, and confusing.
One reason is that people are unclear and unaligned on who is responsible for the decisions.
To help leaders and teams, we've developed our version of the Decision Tree, a model for getting alignment around decisions.
Here's what an SVP at a major entertainment company recently said about this model:
"On Your Feet shared the Decision Tree model at my senior leadership meeting, and now, on our meeting agendas, we always introduce a topic as a leaf, branch, trunk, or root decision.
It’s become a common language for our team, and it provides so much clarity and saves us time and has reduced frustration.”
In this article, we share our version of the Decision Tree and the different ways it can be used. It remains one of the most impactful executive facilitation tools we've used over the last 25 years.
The Model
The Decision Tree is a model for leaders and decision owners to clarify to someone else the type of decision.
Leaf Decisions. These are usually the smallest decisions. You want these decisions to happen, and you do not need to know about them.
Branch Decisions. These are more important decisions. You enable people to make these decisions and take action, but you want to be informed afterward.
Trunk Decisions. This is a big distinction from the category above. This is where you want people to have a point of view and a suggested course of action, but not do anything without your permission.
Root Decisions. These are the most important decisions, and you do not want someone taking any steps without you. These decisions require your involvement from the outset.
An Insight
One major insight is that many teams and their leaders don’t have alignment over where decisions are located on the tree.
To help our clients diagnose the confusion, we will identify upcoming decisions such as “Can I make changes to the website?” or “Can I offer a pricing discount?” or “Can I buy this new piece of equipment?”
We then ask the team (and get them to raise their hands with their eyes closed): What type of decision is this? Almost always, different people “vote” for different parts of the tree.
That’s a problem.
Many clients have found that using the Decision Tree helps them make better decisions with less ambiguity. Try it out!
Three Uses
The Decision Tree has a lot of uses. Here are three ways to start using it.
#1. Diagnose: Use the tree to discuss and diagnose what level a decision is or should be at. See if you agree. If you don’t, use this model to decide.
Example:
“Gary, it seems like you view the launch of the website as a branch decision. I view it as more important, such as a trunk or even a root. Let’s see if we can align more.”
#2. Delegate: Use the tree to delegate tasks by clearly stating what level of the tree the decision is on. For more clarity, you can remind people what the level means.
Example:
“Mariah, please schedule and lead the next brainstorming session for our team. This is a leaf decision. I don’t need to know what you are planning, but I am looking forward to participating.”
#3. Develop: Use the tree to help your people develop and grow by making sure your people are doing tasks at different levels.
If you only give people leaf tasks, they’ll never get the feedback and knowledge they need to grow their skills.
And if you only give them trunk tasks, they’ll never get the freedom and autonomy they need to develop into responsible leaders.
Example:
“Talon, you were great with data presentations last month. Let’s move those to a leaf-level decision next time. From now on, I don’t need updates on those. But let’s also bring you on a trunk decision on the Perkins client pitch so that you can learn more about that process.”
Executive Facilitation
The Decision Tree is a mainstay tool in our leadership facilitation work.
On Your Feet makes your meetings with other leaders and your direct reports highly engaging and productive.
Our facilitation transforms your annual strategy retreats, vision sessions, quarterly updates, and other key meetings with the right structures and interactive experiences for better conversations and connection.
"The Decision Tree is just one of the many breakthroughs we had working with On Your Feet!” - Entertainment SVP
Learn More Here
Case Example
"Now, on our meeting agendas, we always introduce a topic as a leaf, branch, trunk, or root decision.” - Entertainment SVP
Here is a slide from the quoted client's meetings that they recently shared with us to show how they'd been using the tree.
