Is gut-level the best way to make a decision?

I’ve been privileged to operate in the world of organizational leadership for over twenty years now.  Some days I feel old, but whether I feel old or just seasoned, the reality is that I’ve seen a lot of leadership decisions made and executed. Some have been brilliant. Some have been disasters.

Over all those years and through all those decisions, I’ve seen a common theme.  Most of the brilliant decisions were backed up by data and most of the disasters have been gut-level decisions. I’ve sat around many tables and heard phrases like, “my gut tells me we ought to do this” or “I’m just feeling led to go here”.  Look, I’m not discounting God’s voice speaking to a man or woman in leadership.  It happens and needs to be heeded. But don’t we just get lazy sometimes and just want to make the decision without doing the work it requires?

About ten years ago I was serving at a church that was out of space.  We were full and knew we needed to expand.  We all sat around the table and talked about the scope of the facility expansion project we wanted to undertake.  In our gut, we all agreed that we could probably take on a project in the neighborhood of $3M.  Thankfully, there was a voice of reason in the group who said we ought to hire a consulting firm to vet our ideas with hard questions and crunch some real numbers for us. We did.  And after the conversations were had and the numbers were crunched, we were disappointed to find out that our church could probably handle a project no larger than $1.1M.  Wow, our gut would have led us into a $2M mistake.  Do you know what a $2M mistake does to a church that size?  It kills it.  I’m so thankful we made a decision based on data, not our gut feelings.

If the decision is what to order at a restaurant, go with your gut.  No big deal.  But, when you're making real decisions that have real implications for you and those who depend on you, remember this.  Decisions made with real data are almost always better decisions.

If you know some leaders who are gut-level decision makers, share this with them and challenge their method. You’ll be doing them a favor.  And if you're that gut-level decision maker, don't dismiss this quickly.  Perspective before planning brings success.  The truth is your friend.

You Can't Fix Stupid . . . Or Can You?

They say, "You can't fix stupid." and we all laugh.  We all know these people who seem to be stuck in the same stupid pattern of behavior.  Seems like they are related to us, more often than not.  Or maybe they live in our own mirror.  That hurts, huh? 

But, wait a minute.  Why do we say "You can't fix stupid"?  Isn't stupid purely based on the choices the "stupid person" makes?  If that's true, isn't it quite possible to "fix stupid" by changing the stupid decisions to sensible ones?  You might think I'm over-simplifying this. You might think this is an "easier said than done" kind of situation.  If so, read this first and then come back.  

I believe the real truth is that you can fix stupid.  I believe it's really simple and really hard. I also believe it's more important than we think.  

Here are 2 BIG reasons we have to fix stupid . . . 

1. We give up on others too easily.  I'm so guilty of this.  When I take one of those spiritual gifts tests, mercy is way on the low end.  I'm tough on other people.  Sometimes that's just what they need.  But sometimes they just need me to spend a lot of time, patience and energy to walk with them through something that looks super easy to me and feels super hard to them.  Do you do this too?  You say, "Just stop spending money you don't have."  They say, "It's all I've ever known and I do it because I feel guilty about ten other things I've failed at in my life."  You say, "Just eat healthier and get some exercise and you'll lose the weight."  They say, "You have no idea how hard this is for me."  We're wrong.  They're right.  It looks so much easier to us than they know it is for them.  Patience and love are what they need.
2. We give up on ourselves too easily.  When I was 12 years old, I hit puberty.  In less than a year I went from wearing size 12 slim jeans to men's size 30.  I went from a skinny 11-year-old who could eat whatever I wanted without a thought, to a pudgy 12-year-old who gained weight with every bite of food.  That was thirty-two years ago and the struggle has been very real every day since then.  A few years ago I got connected to some great people who helped me learn some real skills and a plan for my personal fitness, but before that, I was up and down all the time.  I vividly recall, during a few of my down times (up in weight, down emotionally) when I just gave up.  I said to myself, "I'm just going to be fat.  If people don't like that, it's their problem."  But it wasn't their problem.  It was mine. I knew I didn't want to be fat, so that was never a real option for me.  The point is, I know that temptation to just give up on myself.  So do you.  There are two HUGE problems with giving up on yourself, though. One is that this world needs you and what you have to offer.  Two is that when you give up on yourself, you'll give up on others too. Patience and love are what we need. 

We have to face the truth that stupid is usually driven by pain.  Are there instances where people are just not interested in change and have given up on themselves?  Sure.  And there's nothing you can really do for them when they're in that mindset.  But that doesn't mean you have to write them off forever.  Are there "stupid" mindsets you're stuck in?  Sure.  That doesn't mean you have to write yourself off either.  Patience and love.  Those are the orders of the day.  For others and for ourselves.