Photo: “City Java smoothies” by khawkins04 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
I love good metaphors! A well-defined word is always appreciated, but as someone who wants to picture what we’re talking about, nothing helps more than a well-constructed metaphor. If you work with me, I hope you like them too—you’ll routinely have to bear with me creating or repeating them!
The Problem
Last Sunday, while talking with my brother-in-law and father, we discussed common struggles with leadership and decision-making. A pattern emerged: we kept encountering two contrasting approaches.
Some leaders make every decision themselves. This stifles collaboration and leaves teams feeling unheard—though decisions do get made and direction is clear.
Other leaders spend copious time listening to everyone. People appreciate being heard, but often leave without clarity on where they’re going or what was actually decided. The same questions get asked repeatedly, meetings drag on, and decisions get pushed off.
We gravitated toward evaluating the latter, and I finally arrived at a metaphor: The Decision-Making Smoothie.
The Smoothie
Imagine I asked my kids what they wanted for dinner. Enoch says pizza, Benaiah says lobster, Naomi says ice cream.
Rather than evaluating the options, I say: “Perfect, let’s just make a smoothie!”
By combining all the requests in the blender, I’ve simultaneously accepted everyone’s input and created something nobody wanted.
The Recipe
How does a leader cook up one of these ill-desired smoothies?
First, when seeking a decision, ask everyone to chime in. Don’t measure anything, don’t expect people to support their plans, don’t seek understanding of why they reached their conclusions. Just make sure everyone puts everything on the table.
Next, throw all the items into the decision-making blender and hit high power. Mull over every scenario round and round the table. Don’t eliminate anything—just ensure everything gets cycled through conversation multiple times.
By the end of the meeting, you’ll have your decision-making smoothie: a mish-mash of everyone’s ideas that offends no one directly but creates an unclear, unappetizing conglomeration. There may have been great ideas in the mix, but now they’re blended together and you’re no closer to acting on a single one.
The Alternative: Make a Menu
If that doesn’t sound appetizing, here’s the alternative: Make a menu, not a smoothie.
Clearly define each option. Have a clear ingredient list for each. Understand the recipe. Require that at the end of the conversation, one item is ordered.
Remove options that are inappropriate or infeasible. “Benaiah, I enjoy lobster as much as you, but that’s not affordable. Naomi, ice cream is not for dinner—we’ll talk later about dessert. Enoch, your option seems most reasonable. Now let’s discuss what we’d like on the pizza and get one ordered.”
The Leadership Lesson
Not all your decisions will be this easy, but the process can be simplified and made more effective. As a leader, your team needs you to help create a menu, not a smoothie. Don’t just pick the option you like—help structure the options and work through evaluating each. Make it clear that at the end of the process, one item needs to be selected, and lead the meeting to ensure the blender doesn’t start spinning.
