Sunday, March 28, 2010

Decisions, decisions...

Managers need to be capable of making unbiased, solid decisions that benefit their companies. There are two types of decisions: ones that need to be made on the spot and ones that require more time because their outcome has higher consequences upon a business. Oftentimes, the speedier decisions are made upon intuition- or at least recognizing a problem, relating it to a past problem and thinking back on how it was solved in the past. Of course, for more important decisions, this should not be the end of the decision-making process. From this point, a manager should reflect on how a past decision has affected a company and if there are any other alternative actions that could be taken. The goal being to make the best possible decision, not just any decision.

In the article I read, the author offers this advice "Leaders should not rely solely on intuitive judgments, nor on painstaking analyses. The key is to know how to choose. The more complex the decision, the more leaders need to supplement their hunches with investigation and analysis. But realizing that the brain is a maestro at recognizing patterns reminds them to respect their intuition as well."

Oftentimes we end up being guided by past experiences without being conscience of it. For example, in life, people often end up dating the same type of people and end up disappointed time and time again if their type is not 'good'. People buy the same type of products overtime too. When your sick, you automatically grab soup for dinner, instead of considering that bread may actually make your stomach feel better. It is important to train your mind to stop automatically going for the normal or comfortable. Yes, use your intuition to guide you, but don't let it be your ultimate solution because then nothing will ever change for the better (in your life or in a business).

Source:
Callahan, Lisa. "Blink or Think?." T+D 64.2 (2010): 68-69. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.

1 comment:

  1. I agree that important decisions, especially those strongly affecting others, should be made according to a rigorous process. They cannot be made solely upon intuition, but need to take the time to consider "alternative actions". Important decisions such as those made by a CEO require loads of time in order to come up with solutions which will benefit everyone in a company and will keep everyone content.

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