Bill looked around the room. There was no disagreement.
"Great," he said. "It's decided. I look forward to seeing how much this increases our sales performance."
Six months later sales performance was down 10%.
Bill was shocked. But his team wasn't.
If you only change one thing to improve your decision making process, do this: engage in conflict. I don't mean the kind of icky interpersonal conflict that drags down teams and ruins relationships. I mean the ideological kind of conflict that focuses on the issues at hand and gets everyone's viewpoints on the table.
If Bill had encouraged his team members to speak up, embrace disagreement, and discuss the issues until all the factors were understood, he could have avoided a costly mistake. Instead, he assumed the team was on the same page as he quietly supressed perspectives that differed from his own.
Personally, I don't trust any decision this side of conflict. Until you've given consideration to the opposing opinions and listened well to the wisdom of others, you're still standing on this side of conflict. It's only after you've waded through the disagreements and stand on the other side that you're able to make a well-informed decision.
Your key to making better decisions is to have the courage and kindness to engage in healthy conflict with your team. The results are well worth it.