Why is Decision Making Difficult?
“I hate making decisions! It’s so-o-o-o-o stressful!!”
That is what I hear from my youngest daughter whenever she has to make up her mind about something. And, unfortunately, her opinion is shared by many, whether it is an average person making a personal decision, a budding entrepreneur deciding on a new business venture, or even a high-level Government official deciding on programs that will affect millions of people.Why do so many people fear making a decision? There are four basic reasons that that decision-making is difficult:
One: The cost of making a bad decision might be professionally, monetarily, and personally very high. Life savings may be involved in a business decision, and even lives themselves may hang in the balance in other decisions. Seven years ago, when my oldest daughter was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, she was faced with treatment decisions that had very nasty potential consequences, including death. Spoiler alert – great decisions were made by her and her doctors, the disease was eliminated thanks to a bone marrow transplant from a generous stranger, she is healthy, and she and her husband have just celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary! But, as you can imagine, thinking about the stakes and possible consequences each step of the way was extremely stressful. The doctors are the ones who can talk with expertise about the possible outcomes and their probabilities, but only the patient can know how he or she feels about the potential outcomes. In addition, we don’t all feel the same, which means that decisions are personal and what is considered a good result for one person may be viewed as a bad result for another.
Two: More than one person may have a stake in the decision, and their respective goals and values may conflict with each other. One partner in a small business venture may want it to grow slowly and conservatively, while the other partner may want to go for the gold ring and aggressively take chances on opportunities that carry more risk but have potential for far greater rewards. But conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. In many cases, openly expressed conflict is a healthy business experience. Just remember, that each stakeholder deserves respect and a fair hearing – followed by a clearly stated and defensible decision.
Three: When we make a decision in the present, we are uncertain about how events will unfold in the future – we don’t have the luxury of knowing what will happen with certainty. For example, if we are thinking of investing in a rental property to generate additional income, the results will depend on what percent of the time we can keep the property rented, the care tenants will take of the property, and the hidden surprises that often show up when we least expect them such as mold hidden behind the walls, the impact of hurricanes, the destruction from earthquakes, etc. If only we knew for sure what was going to happen, our job would be easy; unfortunately, we don’t, and we must figure out how to make good decisions knowing that the future is uncertain and much of it is outside of our control. Flipping a coin to deal with uncertainty just doesn’t cut it, and we will need approaches to deal with what we all refer to as probability.
Four: We also must recognize and learn to work with people who have different attitudes towards decision making. Some are meticulous planners who never make a decision without employing a thought process that is logical, methodical, and quantitative. Others like to fly by the seat of their pants and follow their instincts when making a decision. Neither process is inherently right or wrong. Decision making is a very personal matter and is impacted by an incredible number of factors that affect the process. Those impacts may vary as widely as the number of people making the decisions. Working with people holding different attitudes is inevitable. It can be challenging and frustrating, but can also be rewarding.
I Wish You Great Success !
Terry
Start making better decisions today !
