Make the right decision

Most of you may have already decided whom to vote during the forthcoming Presidential Election. However, there are likely to be many voters who are still undecided as to whom to vote. Sometimes we call them the floating vote.

Decision-making is a skill needed for planning, problem solving, recruiting, delegating powers or a host of other activities. Even at a lower level, we are constantly called upon to make various decisions on the home front. If the tap goes dry or when there is no electricity, what is to be done has to be decided by the householder. When your child scores lower marks at the Grade V scholarship examination, you have to decide whether you should send him to a private school or to a school given by the Education Department. When you are unable to make the right decision you go round in circles consulting every Tom Dick and Harry for their opinions.

Decision-making skills underpin many aspects of our lives. The art of good decision-making is somewhat complex to an untrained individual. It involves a wide range of personal and inter-personal skills. Although decision-making is something personal, it will affect others who may be your family members or workers in a workplace. Therefore, before making a decision, you have to do a little bit of fact finding and logical thinking. Creativity, analytical ability, and sensitivity to the other's feelings are other attributes. In the modern world, decision-making also relies on a thorough knowledge of techniques and processes.

Tony Buzan: Mind Mapping guru

People react to situations in many ways. When somebody slanders you, you can either ignore it or defame him in return. Sometimes you tend to act without thinking at all of the possible repercussions. If you get a letter assassinating your character, you can positively decide to do nothing. It is always safe to make decisions only after gathering the required information and giving the matter some thought.

The biggest problem we face is whether the decision we are going to make will be correct. For that matter, there is no right or wrong way to make decisions. However, you can adopt different approaches for different decisions you are going to make. In public life, it is not making the decision that is difficult. In many instances, the hardest part is getting others to implement the decision.

In simple language, deciding something means making a choice or coming to a conclusion. With experience we know that these are not easy tasks. If you are suffering from cataract, you have to make the difficult decision of having it removed through surgery. If you are the head of an institute, you will have the difficult decision of dismissing a worker for improper conduct.

Sometimes, many of our decisions are made and acted on in a split second. For instance, you decide to cross a busy street while a vehicle is approaching you. You have to cross the street very fast to avoid an accident. Whatever the decision you are going to make, you have to analyse the situation fast. Sometimes you will have certain options. These are, however, limited by constraints. If possible, take the time to assess the situation before making a decision.

Decision-making and problem solving should be distinguished. You might decide to skip breakfast if you are not feeling hungry. But this is not a problem. Problem solving involves much more than just selecting suitable options. For instance, there are safety problems both at home and the workplace. Similarly, lack of discipline in the workforce is a serious problem. These problems need quick solutions.

When you wish to deal with a problem you will depend on its relative urgency and importance. If you suddenly find that your purse has been picked, you will have a serious problem. In such a situation, you have no time to consult others. You have to make a quick decision to get out of the problem.

Some of our decisions are routine. You go to a supermarket and decide to buy a particular brand of soap. It is a routine decision. As the head of a department you will be making routine decisions most of the time. However, some problems occur so suddenly that you will have to deal with them immediately. When there is a sudden fire everybody will panic and you have to decide what to do.

On the other hand, you can take your own cool time to make consultative decisions. Your advisers will do the thinking for you and you can leisurely make a decision. For instance, if you wish to publish a newspaper, you cannot decide to do so without consulting a cross section of the readers, advertisers and financial advisers.

Decisions are sometimes divided into programmed and un-programmed decisions. Programmed decisions are usually unimportant because the risks are few and far between. Sometimes, everything is decided beforehand. All routine work in offices falls into this category. On the other hand, un-programmed decisions are new and non-repetitive. The risk involved is rather high. If you find your house on fire, you have to make an un-programmed decision. You need life experience and maturity to make such decisions. For instance, a child may not know what to do when the house is on fire.

Sometimes, we feel that a particular course of action is the right one and act accordingly. This is called the intuitive approach. To solve some of our personal problems intuition can be a better guide than cold reasoning.

Modern psychologists have come up with new techniques to make the decision-making process easy. Brainstorming is one such technique adopted by many managers. It is not confined to the corporate sector. Even individuals can resort to brainstorming to solve personal problems. In this method you allow your imagination free play and get rid of age-old ideas.

When you have a problem, try to write down your ideas. When you put pen to paper, new ideas start flowing giving you additional strength. Another advantage is that you will have a written record for future reference.

Another technique known as Mind Mapping was devised by Tony Buzan to challenge traditional ways of thinking. Here you involve both sides of your brain - the logical left side and the imaginative right side. Meanwhile, Edward de Bono devised another method known as Lateral Thinking in 1967. According to him Vertical Thinking requires you to take up an initial position and then build logically on that basis. Lateral Thinking helps you to move sideways and try different perceptions.