Last week, The Glass Hammer.com, posted a great new article by Dr. Sylvia Lafair, on three steps for making better decisions at work. I have included a section of their article below, but be sure to read the full version at The Glass Hammer.com.
1. OBSERVE: Each of us has a knee jerk manner of deciding. Pay attention to the way you seek out information and analyze data. Keep a check list to figure out your primary mode of asking for input. Do you prefer consensus or contentious? How you handle conflict is a key determiner for how you make decisions. Are you, as management guru Peter Drucker insists, able to do the right thing even if it is unpopular? Notice if you act quickly just to get “it” over with and done, or wring your hands, afraid you could be wrong. Here is a quick litmus test to help: notice your behavior when shopping for an outfit. Do you shop alone, with friends? When a sales person wants to be helpful are you grateful or is it grating? And now, for the best part; once you bring your new sartorial success home is it a done deal or are you a master of the return syndrome?
2. UNDERSTAND: We all, and that means all of us, learned decision making methods in our original organization, the family. This is where responses to decisions were applauded or the adults in our lives were appalled. Once you begin to understand the emotional underbelly of decisions you are in a better place to use a combination of logic and intuition; decisions are less gut wrenching and more satisfying. Look back at early choices, often this was in the area of friends; were they accepted or rejected? Note who judged and how you responded. Who was there to give you advice when you took a wrong turn and “messed up”? Were you able to be honest at home or did you “lie by omission”? What was the price to pay if you wanted something expensive, or frivolous?