Take An Organized Approach To Decision Making
The key to making better decisions is to organize your decision making process. This is a necessary step because our brains are hardwired to make quick decisions based on what we’ve already experienced. This quick decision making process serves a two-fold purpose. First, when confronted by a life or death situation, being able to make a quick, as well as correct, decision is often the difference between life and death. Second, quick decision making conserves energy. When faced with a routine choice, it makes no sense to waste blood sugar to work through the individual steps involved in that decision. However, our evolutionary decision making processes do not serve us as well in the complexity of the modern world. While we often need to systematically think through our decisions, we do not always have the knowledge or understanding to do so. This is where an organized approach to decision making helps.
The first step to solving a modern problem is to create the right atmosphere in which to decide. It will take time to understand the ramifications of the choices involved in a complex decision. Make sure that you are putting aside enough time to properly consider these choices. This means knowing what goal you hope to achieve by making the proper choice. It also means understanding the criteria you will use to help you decide.
The next step is create as many possible options to choose from as you can. Them more varied the choices are, the more varied the solutions will be. When you have a number of various outcomes that may result from your choices, you have a better chance of choosing the options that will increase the odds of achieving the outcome you desire. Brainstorming is an excellent way of making sure all your choices are on the table at the time you make a decision.
Another step is to have a fall back plan. No one can predict the future. The more complex the problem that you must solve, the more this unpredictability rises. A “Plan B” is a great way to hedge against the risk this increased unpredictability brings. If your primary outcome falls through, you still can take advantage of you back up plan.
Finally, once you’ve made a choice, move forward with that decision. If you have organized your decision making process, you can have confidence that you’ve done everything possible to make a complex situation simple.