This is a great way to tell people where they are free to play and how they can grow. Best of all, your team will take on more responsibility and your own to-do list will shrink
~ Susan Scott

To delegate decision-making is a powerful way to build trust and grow emerging leaders. Susan Scott’s ‘decision tree’ model is an ideal approach. There are four levels of decision – leaf, branch, trunk and root. Four stages of delegated trust in proportion to the degree of potential harm or good to the organisation as decisions are made and action is taken.

Leaf decisions:

Make the decision. Act on it. No need to report the action you took. There is no real risk here. Mistakes at this level are unlikely to cause significant harm, making it a safe space for learning and autonomy.

  • Choosing how to prioritise for your daily task list.

  • Ordering standard office supplies for your team.

  • Adjusting your daily work schedule to attend a training session.

  • Choosing the font size for an internal email or presentation.

Branch decisions:

Make the decision. Act on it. Report the action you took using the usual reporting process or procedure. There might be some risk, but it will be easy to handle and resolve if things go pear-shaped. This level helps build confidence and accountability while maintaining a feedback loop.

  • Reassigning tasks within your team to meet a short-term project deadline.

  • Deciding to work from home for a day due to minor illness, then letting your manager know.

  • Implementing a new process for tracking team progress, and reporting the change in the next team meeting.

  • Handling a customer complaint and informing your manager afterward.

Trunk decisions:

Make the decision – that is, figure out a solution or possible options to recommend. Discuss your decision with your boss before you act on it. Afterwards, report the action you took. There may be potential for significant risk to the project, team or company, so make sure you discuss your recommendations with your boss before taking action.  This ensures oversight on decisions that could have a notable impact. 

  • Recommending a change to the team’s roster or shift pattern that could impact coverage.

  • Proposing to invest in new software or tools for the team, requiring approval before purchase.

  • Deciding to escalate a recurring performance issue to HR, after discussing with your manager.

  • Suggesting a new client onboarding process that would alter established procedures, pending managerial approval.

Root decisions:

Discuss and make the decision jointly, with input from many people. These are the most critical decisions. They require joint discussion and consensus, often involving multiple stakeholders. Poor decisions at this level can cause significant harm to the organization. Examples include major strategic shifts or policy changes. 

  • Deciding to restructure the team or department.

  • Making a call on redundancies or major hiring decisions.

  • Approving a merger, acquisition, or significant partnership.

  • Responding to a major compliance breach or legal issue that could affect the entire organisation.

Purpose & Impact

The decision tree model serves several key purposes:

Clarifies Authority: Employees know exactly which decisions they are empowered to make and where they need input or approval.

Supports Development: As employees gain experience and trust, more decisions can be moved from root/trunk to branch/leaf, fostering professional growth and confidence.

Builds Accountability: By delegating appropriately, leaders encourage ownership and accountability at all levels.

Frees leadership: Senior leaders can focus on higher-level, strategic issues rather than being bogged down in routine decisions.

Understanding this kind of choice architecture releases people to take on greater levels of responsibility. The metaphors of leaf, branch, trunk and roots define levels of risk or potential harm to the organisation. Poor decisions at any level can hurt an organisation, but recovering from damaged leaves is much easier than recovering from damaged roots. The idea is to encourage our teams to move more and more decisions to the leaf and branch levels as their capacity and confidence grows.

Benefits

There are four key benefits to having a ‘Decision Tree’ conversation with our teams:

  • Clarity about what categories various decisions and actions fall into.
  • Clarity and confidence about what authority and responsibilities belong to each team member.
  • A clearer upward path for professional development. Progress is made when responsibilities are moved up the various levels as staff gain experience and capacity to make better decisions.
  • Makes it easier to grow grassroots leadership from within our organisation. This also frees up leaders and executives to take on more challenging responsibilities themselves.

*Adapted from Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success in Work and Life, One Conversation at a Time by Susan Scott (2004).

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