Has your team ever been stuck in decision paralysis? 🤯 The sheer number of opportunities in front of you can be overwhelming.
Making decisions on your own is hard enough. Making decisions as a team can be even harder.
⚠️ The Cost of Incomplete Decisions
When decisions are left unresolved, the impact runs deep:
🔁 Teams get stuck – When decisions aren’t made clearly, people put other tasks on hold, slowing progress.
😟 Unclear expectations create anxiety – When no one knows what "winning" looks like, it's like that feeling of not studying for a test. Anxious teams struggle to do their best work. They become defensive and disorganized.
At its core, decision-making is about solving problems. And solving problems requires defining the problem first.
🛠 The D.A.T. Tool: A Framework for Clarity
The D.A.T. tool helps your team gain clarity on:
✔️ What the real problem is
✔️ Whether it needs to be solved
✔️ What "solved" looks like
✔️ How you’ll move forward—together
🔄 Everything is an Opportunity
The word “opportunity” is just another way of saying “problem.” 💡
Every problem is an opportunity waiting to be addressed, turned into a strategic advantage, and leveraged for growth.
But you can’t do everything at once. That’s where D.A.T. helps you decide:
✅ What to focus on now
✅ Who should own it
📊 The D.A.T. Decision Model
| Define the Opportunity 🎯 | Align to Your Roadmap 🗺 | Take Action ✅ |
|---|---|---|
| 🔹 Prioritize the opportunity | 🔹 Fit to company destination & "bets" | 🔹 Ensure agreement |
| 📝 One-sentence definition | 🔹 Fit to ethos & values | 🔹 Define clear steps |
| 🔍 Dig deeper | 🔹 Fit to culture | 🔹 Assign ONE owner |
1️⃣ Define the Opportunity 🎯
✔️ List all current opportunities in your weekly sync meeting.
✔️ Prioritize what truly needs to be tackled now. (Some things can wait!)
✔️ Summarize the opportunity in one sentence.
💡 TIP: Use an action-oriented sentence, e.g., "Solve the backlog of new member onboarding."
🔍 Dig deeper: Is this the real issue, or is there a root cause underneath? Ask:
➡️ What does “solved” actually look like? Define the outcomes you expect.
2️⃣ Align to Your System & Soul Roadmap 🛤
✔️ Does this decision align with your 5-10 year destination? 🏁
✔️ Does solving this issue fit within your key initiatives ("bets")? 🎲
🚨 Warning: Every opportunity has a cost. If solving this problem pulls resources away from bigger priorities, it may be a distraction. Stay focused!
🔎 Ask yourself:
🔹 Does it fit your ethos? (Your values & unique mission)
🔹 Does it fit your culture? (If you have to change who you are to solve it, maybe you shouldn’t.)
3️⃣ Take Action 🏁
✔️ Does the team agree that this opportunity is worth solving? ✅ If yes, move forward!
✔️ Define the next steps:
📌 What needs to happen? By when?
📌 Set a deadline to track progress & accountability.
👤 Assign ONE owner. This person is responsible for the success of the decision—they may delegate, but they own the outcome.
💡 Start Using D.A.T. Today
The D.A.T. tool simplifies decision-making by turning problems into opportunities and ensuring your team knows what to focus on.
Need help implementing D.A.T. in your organization? Let’s talk!