If we accept the definition of Decision refers to the act of making a choice, and the decision making process constitutes all those steps leading up to that point that authors refer to as “the point of no return” then, a succesful decision should be one that maximises the objective function given the information available an no more than that.
However, this isn’t the case the managerial world where decisions are based on the merits of the outcome regardless of the process leading up to it. In other words the success of a decision – and by extension, of the decision maker – depends on two factors: execution and luck.
Business managers will often play the role of both decision makers and implementation managers leaving the execution part of the equation within their control. In order to guarantee succesful implementation, the course of action must be clearly communicated and understood by all those involved in the task.
As for the “luck factor” many would argue that there’s no such thing as luck but good planning. I disagree.
