Signalling decision making and taking in a complex world

At its heart, decision-taking is about the decision-making process – how, who, what, where and when. In this ideal world, strategy is primarily about ‘observation’ and ‘orientation’, while ‘decision’ and ‘action’ are best left to tacticians and operatives. However in the ‘real’ world, strategists have to take account of all the factors impinging upon their strategic environment and no strategist can possibly operate in isolation – there is a social and network component to their knowledge, underpinned by the (social) strategic planning processes and the (personal) cognitive ones. As connectivity and the availability of information has increased, this has often impacted negatively upon the ability to take and to make effective decisions. This paper examines the basis of effective decision-making and decision-taking in complex systems and differentiates between the two.

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