How Decisions Actually Get Made

Last week I wrote about the two versions of every organisation: the official one and the real one. If you're going to notice that gap anywhere first, it will probably be in how decisions get made.Think about the last significant decision in your area. Not a small operational call. Something that moved budget, changed direction, or affected someone's role. Now think about when you first heard it discussed. Not the meeting where it was announced. The first time someone mentioned it to you. Over coffee. In a one-to-one. On a walk back from lunch. In a private message at 7pm.That conversation? That was part of how the decision got made. You were already in it.You're already in the roomMost people think decisions happen in meetings. They don't. Meetings are where decisions get confirmed, refined, and announced. The actual shaping happens earlier, in the informal conversations where people test ideas, surface concerns, and figure out what they think.I was talking to my team in Austin this…