When the cost of execution goes down, the value of judgment goes up
Back in January I wrote that most teams don't have an attribution problem, they have a judgment problem. Most people want someone or something else to make decisions for them. They don't want the responsibility of making hard choices. Using data, tools, or whatever else is new is a dopamine-filled way to avoid ever having to sit with uncomfortable decisions or options.
What judgment looks like
Teams with judgment move quickly. Teams without it are always looking for someone else to give them the answer, a person, a tool, you name it. The people with judgment think and ask questions, and they use data to contextualize positions and opinions, not the other way around.
Where it comes from
I think it's a symptom of our culture. You don't have to experience discomfort or sit with something, there's always a quick solve. I believe judgment is a mix of pattern recognition and experience built by spending time in something, and the quick solve lets you skip that.
In my opinion, AI is heightening the outsourcing of thought, and all it's doing is creating a divide in talent, between the people who are crucial to an organization and the people who aren't, and the difference is judgment. It can solve workflows and integrate into systems, but by its very nature it's not creative nor intuitive, and it's taking more of the execution.
When the cost of execution goes down, the value of judgment goes up.
Inside the company, I believe part of my responsibility is to model the behavior of using judgment. I refuse to accept surface-level recommendations, and I push for more thought. I ask questions, I reward creativity, resilience, and resourcefulness, and I push back on tools, best practices, and outsourcing thinking.
I know the team has come to a good outcome when their recommendation is simple. Complexity is an immediate flag that something might be off.
Trust comes from knowing what to expect
Feedback is part of this too. We need to change how people think about it. It's growth, not a punishment, and treating it as a punishment is a disservice to everyone involved.
I don't think teams feel safe because you're nice to them. I think people trust you when they know what to expect. Earlier in my career, when I tried to keep everyone happy and feeling good, that's when people felt the most uncertain, because it wasn't genuine. Now if I say I don't like something, or that I'm not impressed, it's not received as a threat to their role, it's just me caring enough about them to be direct.
I don't always ride that line right, and I hope I create the space for people to push back and tell me when I'm not being reasonable. The relationship helps, and explaining your intent helps too.
Still, I believe judgment is worth pushing for. It's built by spending time in something. Where does your team go first for an answer, a tool or their own thinking? Reply and tell me which one it is.