Decision Height

The typical precision instrument approach, as done thousands of times per day throughout the U.S. and elsewhere, requires the pilot to follow just two instruments in the cockpit: the course deviation indicator (CDI) and the altimeter.    The pilot uses the CDI to keep the aircraft on course, both horizontally and vertically.   The altimeter doesn't provide guidance, but does provide something else that may not be obvious: the point at which a decision must be made.

Most such approaches require the pilot to have the runway environment in sight when they are 200 feet above the ground.   The procedure, therefore, is to look out the window when the altimeter says you are 200 feet above the ground.   If you see the runway, you can continue on and land.   If not, you must execute a missed approach procedure which involves applying power and climbing back to altitude.

The key item here is that, like in many projects, there is a point at which a decision must be made: continue, cut scope, or cancel the project entirely.    Successful leaders identify parameters which factor into the decision ahead of time - things like cost, progress to date, risk assessments, and so on - so that the actual decision can be made on a purely objective basis.    When such parameters are not defined, making a go/no-go decision on a project can be a long and drawn out process.  Emotional or otherwise subjective factors come into account, and the decision becomes overly long and drawn out.   To be sure, there may well be a point in the project where such subjectivity is allowable and perhaps even desirable, but not at a critical decision point.

Another pitfall is that the decision is deferred simply because the decision may be too difficult to make. This indecisiveness can lead to cost overruns, increasing project scope, or additional effort expended on a technically insurmountable issue resulting in lost productivity.

Just as with the pilot guiding his aircraft full of passengers to a safe landing, leaders need to be aware of their position and be ready to make correct decisions at the correct time based on objective information.   Failure to do so won't help a project, and at worst can lead to a rather sudden and disastrous result.

What kind of decisions do you need to make for your project?    Do you have the metrics in place to objectively make those decisions?