Governance Is Complex : A series unpacking what makes good governance.

Decision-making quality is not a singular construct, but rather a product of its interconnected parts.

Decision-maker quality has several approaches; qualitative-ethical judgments must go beyond quantitative metrics, yet quantitative measures are also required to evidence and legitimise those qualitative-ethical claims. The quality of decisions can only be improved if the decision-maker understands the variables (aspects) of what makes a good decision.

To understand what aspects make a good decision, we need to look at the elements that drive good decision-making, such as information quality, decision-maker capability, ethical intelligence, and goal alignment, which interplay to determine the effectiveness of a decision.

Most leaders think more information means higher-quality outcomes; however, this is not always true. In practice, too much information can overwhelm decision-makers and sometimes may even create a distraction, obscuring the relevant data required. High-quality decisions emerge not from accumulating more inputs, but from identifying the inputs that are most relevant to the context.

A decision-maker needs awareness and understanding to recognise these relevant relationships based on contextuality and alignment with goals and purpose. This is why measuring decision-making quality is essential. Without structured evaluation, it becomes difficult to distinguish whether additional information is genuinely improving outcomes.

A “good” decision isn’t just about facts or outcomes—it’s about fit. It must be evaluated in relation to the coherence between information quality, the contextuality, ethical stance, and goals and purpose.

Effective decision-making resembles a dynamic system rather than a linear procedure...

...it is contextual,
...it is adaptive,
...it is emergent, and
...it is inherently multidimensional.