[xpe]

Well said. I've looked at a lot of products/services in this vein, and many are aspirational / idealistic. You'll want to brace yourselves for the not-so-pleasant realities like the comment above mentions: egos, status, etc.

I indeed like to see clean decision-making based on effective patterns. The challenge often comes down to handling people that don't play along. :) Maybe the "clean" solution isn't realistic. Maybe the people are in a hurry. Or don't really pay much attention. If only people would behave themselves! :P

Maybe the usual textbook "decision making process" is only descriptive in the sense that it attaches a label to certain activities. The textbook models often pretend to be linear and unconnected to other simultaneous decisions.

P.S. Agenda-setting as an operational leader is both hard and arguably essential. I distinguish "operational" leadership from "motivational" leadership, conceptually, even though they are often blended into a person or role.