One of the things Nutt analyzed was how managers implemented their decisions. He found that the most successful implementation tactic involved asking for the participation of those who would be affected by the decision. But it was the least used tactic, being used in only 23 percent of the decisions Nutt studied. It was used in 30 percent of the decisions studied, but had a failure rate of 64 percent. Nutt said he believes most managers know effective decision-making tactics, but don't feel they have the time or resources to put them to use.
Managers seem committed to fast answers and fail to recognize that quick fixes make failure likely.
This study will be included as a chapter of the book Making Successful Strategic Decisions , which is scheduled to be published next year by Sage.