I wrote about how the decisions we are making today have far-reaching consequences tomorrow last week. It was also stated that these consequences could either be empowering or disempowering. You will also recall I stated it can impact our personal, family, or career life.
How many decision(s) have you made in the last week?
What informed those decisions?
Did you think through alternatives that could possibly yield better outcomes?
Are you someone who make decisions based on impulse without giving much thought before making them?
The second and third steps to decision-making process is gathering information and identifying alternatives.
Mastering this process is actually an art and will require daily practice until it becomes a habit. You cannot become efficient and effective overnight.
After you Identify what decision to make, there is the need to gather information about the area you are deciding on. The available information will provide you with options to identify alternatives you can choose from.
Don’t fall into the trap of quick mental judgment. You need to slow down sometimes if you have not mastered the art because it could cost you a fortune.
I would like you to apply this to an area peculiar to you this week.
Possible areas:
a. Deciding to start or scale up your business.
b. Deciding to get into a partnership with someone in a business.
c. Deciding to go into a romantic relationship afresh.
e. Deciding to get into another relationship after a long break from the last one you had.
e. Deciding to resolve the difficult issue(s) you are currently going through (Personal or within a team).
The list is endless……
When you are gathering information to make decision in a business setting, you should list as many ideas as possible whether they seem relevant or not. You don’t disregard ideas whether they look trivial or irrelevant to you. Sometimes, great ideas emanate from seemingly annoying or unconnected contributions.
When gathering information to make personal decisions, you may want to list as many possible ways as you can. The more relevant the items in the list the more likely it expand the scope and subsequently your frame of reference.
When the list is drawn, you move on to the next stage of decision-making; “Identifying Alternatives.”
The more information you gather around making a decision, the more likely you are to identify relevant and useful alternatives. The more relevant or accurate the alternatives you make, the more likely you experience a successful outcome of whatever you are making the decision on.
We have looked at Identifying the decision, gathering information, and identifying alternatives.
When alternatives are generated, what next?
I will drop the fourth step next week.
Always remember that you act based on what you know. The quality of information you gather will influence the quality of decisions you make.
Cheers!