Decision-Making Tips

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. — Winston Churchill

There are many factors that contribute to being a clear thinking decision-maker, the two cardinal ones are:

1. Self-esteem (not pride): Self-esteem is a big factor in making good decisions. Never feel sorry for yourself – it has a deadly effect on your thinking. When one has low self-esteem one can be talked into doing almost anything because one depends on others too much for advice. This is all because one may not have strength and courage to listen to his/her own thoughts.

Creativity in making good decisions requires having a clear mind. Good decision-making requires the courage is to think for yourself — to adopt the attitude that every problem, properly perceived, is an opportunity.

2. Courage: Whether or not we realize it at the time, all our words, actions and attitudes reflect choices. Courage is making choices to do what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are concerned about risk. Recognize all problems, no matter how difficult, as opportunities for enhancement and/or affirmation of your life, and have the courage to make the most of these opportunities.

Two Core Principles
A foundation to good decision-making is acceptance of two core principles:

1. We all have the power to decide what we do and what we say, and
2. We are morally responsible for the consequences of our choices.

Sometimes the power to choose and the opportunities are not self-evident. Outside control and inner emotions can leave one feeling powerless. The intensity of our feelings can encourage us to act and react impulsively as if we had no choice. Although we may not have the power to do everything we want to do, we still have the power to decide what to do with what we have. And that is power enough.

We make thousands of decisions daily and most do not justify extended forethought. They are simple, repetitive or without significant consequence. In such cases, it may be safe to just go with our feelings. When the issues are not morally complex and the stakes are small, our normal instincts are sufficient. But problems arise when we don’t distinguish between minor and potentially major issues, when we “go with the flow” in situations that demand a much more careful approach.

The simple formula is: the greater the potential consequences, the greater the need for careful decision-making.

To help identify important decisions, ask yourself these four questions:

1. Could you or someone else suffer physical harm?

2. Could you or someone else suffer serious emotional pain?

3. Could the decision hurt your reputation, undermine your credibility, or damage important relationships?

4. Could the decision impede the achievement of any important goal?

Clarify Goals and Prioritize

Decisions that fulfill immediate wants and needs can prevent the achievement of our more important life goals. Before you begin decision-making, review and clarify your short-and long-term aims. Determine which of your many wants and don’t-wants affected by the decision are the most important ones.

Decision-Making Tips
Just as people are different, so are their styles of decision making. Each person is a result of all of the decisions made in their life to date. Recognizing this, here are some tips to enhance your decision making batting average.

• Do not make decisions that are not yours to make.
• Don’t waste your time making decisions that do not have to be made.
• Avoid snap decisions. Move fast on the reversible ones and slowly on the non-reversible.
• When making a decision you are simply choosing from among alternatives. You are not making a choice between right and wrong.
• Choosing the right alternative at the wrong time is not any better than the wrong alternative at the right time, so make the decision while you still have time.
• Make decisions as you go along. Do not let them accumulate. A backlog of many little decisions could be harder to deal with than one big and complex decision.
• Do your decision making on paper. Make notes and keep your ideas visible so you can consider all the relevant information in making this decision. Write down the pros and cons of a line of action. It clarifies your thinking and makes for a better decision.

Assessing the Facts
Be sure to choose based on what is right, not who is right. Here are some guidelines:

1. Consider the reliability and credibility of the people providing the facts.
2. Consider the basis of the supposed facts. If the person giving you the information says he or she personally heard or saw something, evaluate that person in terms of honesty, accuracy and memory.
3. Remember that assumptions, gossip and hearsay are not the same as facts.
4. Consider all perspectives, but be careful to consider whether the source of the information has values different than yours or has a personal interest that could affect perception of the facts.
5. Where possible seek out the opinions of people whose judgment and character you respect, but be careful to distinguish the well-grounded opinions of well-informed people from casual speculation, conjecture and guesswork.
6. Finally, evaluate the information you have in terms of completeness and reliability so you have a sense of the certainty and fallibility of your decisions.

Objectives, Alternatives, Risks

Use the OAR approach in decision making.
O – Objectives you are seeking to attain;
A – Alternatives you sense are available to you; and
R – Risk of the alternatives you are considering.

Step-by-Step

• As soon as you are aware that a decision will have to be made on a specific situation, review the facts at hand then set it aside. Let this incubate in your subconscious mind until it is time to consider how the decision is to be implemented.
• Mentally rehearse implementation of your alternative choices and reflect in your imagination what outcomes will result.
• Before committing to what appears to be the best choice, assess the risk by asking “What can I think of that might go wrong with this alternative?”
• Recognize that you cannot know with 100% certainty that your decision is correct because the actions to implement it are to take place in the future. To be effective a decision-maker must have the luxury of having the right to be wrong. Trust yourself to make a decision and then to be able to field the consequences appropriately.
• Remember that not making a decision is a decision not to take action. Discontinue prolonged deliberation about your decision. Make it and carry it through with commitment.
• Once the decision has been made, don’t look back. Be aware of how it is currently affecting you and focus on your next move. Never regret a decision. It was the right thing to do at the time. Now focus on what is right at this time.
• Since most hard decisions use imperfect information and “best effort” predictions, some of them will inevitably be wrong. Monitor the effects of your choices. If they are not producing the intended results or are causing unintended and undesirable results, then re-assess the situation and make new decisions.

References:
Decision Making Tips
The Seven-Step Path to Better Decisions
Leadership Decision Making

About timethief

A down to earth woman, a passionate wordpress blogging tips blogger, a meditator, and a conscious living and self improvement blogger.

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