This post follows Coordination, if you haven’t read it, give it a try.

Advice comes in many forms, but the essence is consistent: any people can make the decision after seeking advice from:

• Everyone who will be meaningfully affected
• People with expertise in the matter

Advice received must be taken into consideration but not to create a watered-down compromise that accommodates everybody’s wishes. There is no such thing as silver-bullet for every problem. The purpose of advice process is to gather collective wisdom to pursuit a sound decision. With all the advice and perspectives the decision maker has received, they choose what they believe to be the best course of action.

Advice is simply advice. No colleague, whatever their importance, can tell a decision-maker what to decide. Why? Well, the decision-maker is the person who first noticed the issue or the person most affected by it. It allows anybody to seize the initiative. Power is no longer a zero-sum game.

It is a misunderstanding that self-management decisions are made by getting everyone to agree, or even involving everyone in the decision. The advice seeker must take all relevant advice into consideration, but can still make the decision. Ownership of the issue stays clearly one person: the decision-maker. The process makes her/him see through the issue enthusiasm, and can accept responsibility for any mistake.

The advice process is a tool that helps decision-making via collective intelligence. Much depends on the spirit in which people approach it. When the advice process is introduced, it might be worthwhile to train colleagues not only in the mechanics but also on the mindset underlying effective use.