First Level Leadership

Decision Making of a Perfect Master

I implore you to reconsider your decision making skills

Think of the last time you became angry and took some actions
 

that were damaging to you in the long run? Have you ever sent an email or a letter to a friend or a business partner and later felt rueful about it?   I know you will say, “But I was emotionally so upset.”

And any actions that you took from an emotional mind resulted insuboptimal performance? Right? It is just a thought… that’s the theme of the decision making style.

There are two managers one named Tom and the other named Harry

Time shows a substantial impact on decision-making behavior of these two managers. It is naturally obvious that the way they both see time, impacts their decision-making process and the ensuant decision.

Tom is very agile and makes immediate decisions,

whereas Harry is longanimous in the face of crisis, and assumes a reflective form of decision-making. He often drags his heels and attempts to build relationships as a way of managing situations. Harry trusts patient reflection as a virtue in decision-making.

When it comes to decision making,

Tom considers speed a virtue. He has the advice of Benjamin Franklin’s stuck on his workstation, “Time is money.” His approach is systematic and linear; Harry’s approach is holistic and non-linear.

They display two trenchant distinctions to decision-making

as if they have a monopoly on their respective styles. The two approaches stand out along a number of dimensions.

Let us analyze the Force and weakness of Tom’s approach path

The greatest strength of Tom’s approach is that he gets the job done. He obviates the delays and indecision that can lead to lost opportunities. Due to his quick thinking approach, he is extremely effective in dealing with crisis such as exigencies.

Tom feels that in an age of high speed internet,

the frame of opportunity is very narrow. A visible triumph of Tom draws on apace.

Haste makes waste

At the same time, Tom’s decision-making approach has congenital weaknesses. He often finds himself dealing with the results of hasty and mis-informed decisions. His fast decisions often result in sub optimality. They lack a long-term view and assessment of consequences is generally deficient. Metaphorically speaking, he often suffers from myopic vision, which is a barrier to good decision making.

Overweening Emotion

Because he is always on the go, his emotions initially help him to focus, but soon lead to unproductive coping strategies. His focus on speed increases his stress levels and the overall performance does leave a lot to be desired.

While high emotions do help Tom to be

more focused, they also unhinge him from the task. This leaves him with loss of productivity and poor decisions. One major shortcoming of Tom is that he does not realize the strategic use of longanimity and patience.

Harry’s Approach - Reflective Decision Making

Harry’s philosophy values reflection. Unlike Tom, he espouses the wisdom of Sun Tzu’s – “The Art of War,” “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before the defeat.” His approach for patient decision-making is more detached with long-term focus. He unites intuition with logic.

Force and weakness of Harry

Harry closely links reflection to knowledge, therefore Harry usually knows what actions to take today to harvest the profits in the approaching future.

The process is difficult and time consuming

because it requires the ability to visualize the big picture. Harry believes that if done in good order, a reflective decision maker like him has no doubt about the decision outcomes.

Therefore, if you dissect critically,

Tom’s decisions have strategic liabilities attached to his decisions because he often gets struck at the outcomes. Facing the unforeseen puts him in strategic disfavor since he has to think on his feet. A goggle-eyed decision maker is usually unprepared for the situation he is facing. Harry’s decision-making rarely takes him into in such a situation.

Being reflective also assists Harry in many other ways:

1.He manages to avoid certitude – With more time and attention that is accorded to the issue, results in trimming down his initial confidence. The weaknesses in his strategies also surface.

2.His patient decision making style bumps him into all possible eventualities and strategies that have higher yields in the long run.

3.He is willing to forfeit short term results for higher long term payoffs.

4.Detachment – He is able to detach himself from emotions.

Like all things, reflective decision making does have its soft spots

Perhaps the greatest weakness of Harry is that he takes time. In the age of internet, this is often unacceptable. It can lead to Analysis by Paralysis or Extinct by Instinct. Sometimes, he can even miss the boat.

So the question that arises is

how you can merge Tom and Harry’s decision making styles? The key quest for today’s leaders is to integrate these two approaches relative to the problem.

The Slow Fast Approach

As is true for most factors, patience in decision-making has both advantages and disadvantages. I personally believe that patient reflective decision making, if rehearsed sincerely and cautiously, can be done quickly.

Can reflected decision-making be taught?

I believe that’s possible, and the first stage is awareness and that’s the purpose of this article.

To begin, to take a more reflective approach (I am making an assumption that you are impulsive):

1) Try to get second and third opinion for your decisions. Most individuals do not look for invalidating data.

2) When you feel time constraint, stay calm (make conscious efforts- I know it’s not easy), don’t succumb to the temptation to act impulsively, which often results in errors.

3) Include other managers and able coworkers in the decision making process. Some of the suggestions may amaze you, and also save you of a lot botheration.

4) In order to stay calm, and to avoid the negative aspect of the emotion in your decision making process, constantly monitor your behavior to channel your energies appropriately. The most difficult step is to maintain a normal emotional state of mind. With awareness and practice, you can do it.

To put it simply,

When you will learn the art of combining them both, trust me you will not be any Tom, Dick and Harry.

Bonus points before I sign off: - Do you know what causes myopia?

1) People want to get rid of an uncomfortable situation and make decisions to relieve themselves of the pressure. This can lead to hasty suboptimal decisions.

2) Crisis situations also results in myopia. When you are distressed to resolve a crisis, you make a decision focusing on the short-term problems and solutions. The focal point changes to the immediate crisis without considering the long-term repercussions.

Quiz: Can you guess where do Tom and Harry come from?

Hint: Benjamin Franklin and Sun Tzu

Next Step: Sign Up for the First Level Leadership E-zine and get access to good information without any fluff!