The Lesser of two Weevils
Sunday 30th June 11.01am
Listening to the various Sunday Morning political programmes this pun from the Russell Crowe film Master and Commander seems to be in my mind. The Conservative Party leadership campaign is the main focus of the main stream media at the moment and looks set to be until they move back to Brexit stoking xenophobia. The Labour slogan of the moment is – for the many not the few. A selection of 2 seems small even for a few.
My interest in politics is probably more than the average person in the street. On this day it competes with Glastonbury and Cricket. Like any other day there are decisions to be made, the delights and distraction of the above and/or do a bit of work. Decision making is the ever-present barometer of any endeavour, work or play.
Being decisive is most often considered a virtue, so is being consultative. Another virtue is considered to be speed of decision making. Something I would say in the past was that I try to make a lot of decisions and on a good day about half are correct. Whilst this falls into the category of a bit glib and obviously flawed, it does have a few saving graces.
Getting the important decisions right might be another way to discuss the merits of good decision making. Obvious and logical that we all try to make a good decision to serve our cause, if not always the right one. If we accept that nobody is trying to make a bad decision what scope is there for improvement?
If you have to choose, and you do, erring on the side of too fast is better than too slow. This is not to say that too fast is always correct, however, no matter the quality of the decision, in hindsight it is harder to live with a decision made, than one that should have been.
Decisions tend to be measured between potential upside and jeopardy. The bigger the upside or jeopardy the bigger the decision. Cautious people will minimise the risk and optimists focus on the glass half full. You pay your money and take your choice. A little self-awareness might help so your more extreme tendencies can be mitigated.
Mr. Crowe’s pun suggests a circumstance when the available options for the decision will both have a negative impact. The least worst becomes the best. The interesting question is not so much how do improve, but how do you know if you are getting better or not? If you consciously change your criteria for decision making what is the impact?
Like so many things its back to clarity of objective. Decision to be made, write down your objective, edit your objective to remove anything vague, test all decisions against your well-defined objective.
Having stated the case I would like to remind myself that it is also important to forget all the rules, think the crazy thought and try to think a different way. Make time for this, then write down your objective and make up your mind.
Martyn Richards works for Wishful Thinking Fundamentals Ltd and is Sales Mentor to a range of technology clients.