DECISION

DECISION = Daring Effective Choice of Influencing Strategies from Infinite Opportunities to meet the Needs

“The process of arriving at a decision is a logical one, but the process of taking it is an emotional one.” – Anon.

Many a logical decision arrived at in meetings or reviews is not effective because while everyone agrees with it, no one has ‘taken’ it. On the other hand, some decisions that are ‘illogical’ but are taken by people passionately, often result in action that actually moves the status from a point to another further down.

We need to acknowledge that our decisions are not effective – in either the method we use to arrive at them, or in the time it takes us to arrive at them. In fact, what we take or arrive at are not decisions but conclusions arrived at through logic and considerations. In such a scenario I wonder what value we add beyond what a logic machine might have done, or another person might have done to arrive at the same conclusion. In my view, our decisions need to go beyond mere conclusions.

In many cases when we are faced with having to make or take a decision, we either pass on the decision making to the customer, or we turn to the ‘institutionalized process’ and depend on it to provide us the safety net for having made a decision. Such decisions, though they might be effective for the moment in the project, do not teach us anything because the next time we need to take the decision we still don’t know the principles that need to be used to arrive at it. Also, we cannot improve on our decision making if we don’t make them first. This can change most simply of we hold ourselves responsible for taking the decision and understand the information provided by the customer, or the process.

One of the most noticeable shortcoming about decision making at work is the time we take to decide. If we think about how we decide, you will notice that we spend the most time in coordinating between different information sources to provide us with the context and data using which we will craft the decision. The information or reports we need to make the decision are often difficult to read and delayed in getting to us, and we then might work on the information to make it more usable by us. We can vastly improve our efficiency of reading reports by firstly defining them to be in a form that provides all the information and contexts for which a decision needs to be taken, and also by improving our ability to read, or learn from the reports without having to reorganize them.

Again, we must realize the value of a decision is only if it is timely. We must decide at the time we had to, regardless of whether we have ‘enough’ (as we think) decision support information. A decision can be said to have been taken once you commit to the realization of the decision, and when it leads to a plan of action to take it to its outcome. Over time, we must learn to make better decisions, from keeping track of the outcome of every one of our decisions.

The only two input criteria that lead to an effective and efficient decision, are:

1. Is the decision being taken about the correct or right ‘thing’ or aspect?
2. When is the decision required to be taken and deployed/published so that it is timely?

With these two inputs, we must be committed to taking the decision with all that we can get.

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An interesting scenario---

: A Dilemma

Subject: Test Question

This test has only one question, but it's a very important one.

Please don't answer it without giving it some serious thought. By giving an honest answer you will be able to test where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation, where you will have to make a decision one way or the other. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous.

Please scroll down slowly and consider each line - this is important for the test to work accurately.

You're in Florida. In Miami, to be exact. There is great chaos going on around you, caused by a hurricane and severe floods. There are huge masses of water all over you. You are a professional photographer and you are in the middle of this great disaster. The
situation is nearly hopeless.

You're trying to shoot very impressive photos. There are houses! And people floating around you, disappearing into the water. Nature is showing all its destroying power and is ripping everything away with it.

Suddenly you see a man in the water - he is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken away by the masses of water and mud. You move closer.

Somehow the man looks familiar. Suddenly you know who it is - it's George W. Bush!

At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him away, forever.

You have two options. You can save him or you can take the best photo of your life.

So you can save the life of George W. Bush, or you can shoot a Pulitzer Prize winning photo, a unique photo displaying the death of one of the world's most powerful men.

And here's the question (please give an honest answer):

The question:

Would you select colour film, or rather go with the simplicity of classic black and white?

“Taking a decision about the right thing, is as important, nay, more important than taking the right decision.” – M.

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Decisions are closely linked with ‘creativity’. In fact, every decision causes creativity, and creativity is the result of several decisions.

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