Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!”

In the movie “You’ve got mail” a 1998 romantic comedy, there is this amazing bit of conversation that takes place in between Joe Fox played by tom Hanks and Kathleen Kelly played by Meg Ryan. Joe writes to [Kathleen Kelly (Shopgirl) in email]” The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!”.

Decision-making is a key skill in the workplace, and is particularly important if you want to be an effective leader. Whether you're deciding which person to hire, which supplier to use, or which strategy to pursue, the ability to make a good decision with available information is vital. It would be easy if there were one formula you could use in any situation, but there isn't. Each decision presents its own challenges, and we all have different ways of approaching problems.

On my way back from Pondicherry by road the other night, I had my decision making skills put to the test!! I had to get back from Pondicherry to Bangalore which is around 340 km's with a planned start time of 7:30 PM from Pondicherry. The complication was whether to take the conventional route that had a terrible stretch of over 100 km's between Thiruvannammalai and Krishnagi or to drive down via Vellore or Salem which would mean driving an additional 100 km's but driving on proper four lane roads. To complicate matters it was raining.

Through the Gathering of Information , Judging the Alternatives , Evaluating each choice in terms of its consequences , I was able to make an informed decision. I must admit that I did feel like calling out Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!” at that moment.

I am a firm believer that its not good to procrastinate decision making and that it would only complicate things further. By spending time on available information from trusted sources, judging the alternatives and evaluating each choice in terms of its sequence one can make a much more informed and strategic decision instead of banking on Luck, Anyways Luck as rightly put by someone is a residue of design. The better the design and planning the higher the possibility to be lucky.

Happy reading !!