Tag Archives: deciding

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

What should I do?

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The best time to ponder what to do is not when in the midst of the action.   Urgency can impact the quality of decisions.  Determining what to do in a calm and reasoned way is more likely to be successful.

While it is not always possible, figuring out what to do well before you plan to do it is by far more satisfying and more importantly less stressful.

It’s a Pattern

The first question should not be what to to do but rather about the objectives.  This does not have to be specific or detailed but rather directional, where are you going?

It is a simplistic thought, but if you don’t know where you are going you have no way of knowing when you have arrived.  Put another way it is critical to understand what done looks like.

So the pattern to follow is to first set set the direction then ask what should I do?  The question is taken in the context of where you are and where you are going.

React to Circumstance

Of course in reality the unexpected can occur at any time so you don’t want to be locked into a firm course based on where you are going.  You do need to be ready to adjust and ask  what should I do now?

The principle of what done looks like should be adhered to.  This will enable you to put the unexpected into context and changing course will be less stressful than if based on a complete surprise.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Getting Help

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Asking others for suggestions, recommendations or simply for opinions is not a weakness.  Practicing the input/advise of others is not mandatory.

Gathering information increases your opportunity to make the best choice.  Frequently our assumptions and subsequent actions can be based on misunderstandings or even misinformation.

Ask Others

Some may react holier than thou or pompous and arrogant when you consult them.  Don’t let that put you off.  Your query is for your benefit alone, no matter what others think.

As I have repeatedly noted in the past, on you can decide how to behave.  Of course the influence of other people or environmental context plays a role but ultimately, you are in control.

Excelling

In your search for personal excellence you don’t need to rely on other people for help but leveraging the knowledge and experience of those around you will more likely improve the quality of your choices  than make them worse.

Remember, no matter how you get there, they are still your choices.

Considering the Options

My own experience has been a single conclusion rarely exists.  Multiple options are always present and choices are how can you increase the probability of your decisions having positive results.

Or viewed in the reverse, consulting is a risk mitigation technique to reduce the possibility of poor outcomes?  One good approach to the question of good or bad outcomes is to find out what others think (of course this does not guarantee success).

However big or small the questions or options before you are, consider others thoughts before plunging ahead.  You won’t regret it.

 

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Going with the default

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Regular readers will be well aware in my belief we are accountable and control our destinies.  You choose how to interpret the world around you, so choose wisely.

Suprisingly though, it occured to me today, sometimes I personally prefer the default result.  That is not to say I give up my responsibilty for controlling my own destiny, just that on occassion I do choose to let fate decide.

What to do?

In its simplest form, personal decision making is just an answer to the question, what should I do?  Gathering the data, weighing the options, considering the pros and cons is my normal path.

The logical analysis is more objective and less emotional . In some cases where an easy decision is not apparent, that is you are on the fence,  maybe letting circumstance drive the conclusion is not a bad approach.

For Example

We are living longer lives, this is a stastical fact in most of the worlds highly developed countries.  Most of these countries have built structures around retirement at age 65.

Things like pension, old age medical benefits, price discounts, etc, are all designed with the target age of 65.  Or I should say they were, that is slowly changing with talk of 70 being the new 65.

So, the question arises. for some, retire at 65 or even a bit earlier or keep working and retire later.

If you are on the fence, you could keep working until forcibly retired,  then the decision is made for you.  Easier, if not better.  Issue resolved by circumstance and no problem as you could go either way.

Random thoughts – keeping you on your toes

Making Conclusions

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Everyday all of us gather data, analyze it and act.  The resulting actions could be nothing (also a default), gathering more data, or behaving in a way we conclude is appropriate to the facts.

Same Facts, Same Conclusions – Not!

Conclusions are very dependent on perceptions, preconceived notions, personal baggage – basically your filters for helping you understand a set of facts.

The really scary part is in many cases the same set of facts can lead to multiple conclusions and all can be right.  And of course on occasion this principle does not apply.

Consider an individual on trial for murder.  The jury have all been presented the same facts, but interpret them with their filters and could come to different conclusions, that is guilty, not guilty or even not enough information to decide (which in our system is not guilty).  Hung juries do occur so we know this circumstance can happen (some jurors say guilty, some say not).   The thing is someone was murdered and the person on trial either did it or they did not.  In this case, clearly there is only one right answer.

Flawed Analysis

It is not possible to be one-hundred percent sure your conclusions are correct or that they are the best approach to handle a given set of facts.  This could be just a decision about what to do next as opposed to a yes or no conclusion like the murder trial but you will still never know for sure if the conclusions was on the mark.

So where does that leave us?

Some helpful ideas

  • keep an open mind as much as possible – i.e., resist your per-conceived ideas and personal behavioral filters to the greatest extent possible.
  • collaborate to validation – use as many sources as you can to review the facts, and present them from alternate views to support or deny your conclusions.
  • test conclusions – before acting construct approaches to confirm the conclusions are the best.  This can take a little time and is not always possible but for key decisions, it is time well spent.
  • admit your wrong when it turns out your conclusions were incorrect  (I did this a couple of times today. )
  • don’t force a conclusion – if the facts are not leading you down a path to a action decision, pause, reflect and come back at the problem later.