The one, simple habit that can dramatically improve the quality of your personal and professional decisions

5 Minute Read by Dr. Seth Nicholls - Nicholls Consulting Services

In 2014, I was simultaneously working as a lecturer in political science and public policy and studying strategic decision-making with Stanford University. During that time, I was forced to reflect on the processes by which I, personally, made decisions and whether or not my approach to decision-making was aligned with the evidence-based material on decision quality that I was examining on a daily basis through Stanford. I quickly discovered that it wasn't.

There was, however, one incident in particular that, for me, both crystallised the need for ongoing critical self-awareness when making important decisions and taught me an extraordinarily valuable lesson; one that has since prevented me from making more bad decisions than I'd care to acknowledge.

While working as a faculty member, it was, of course, necessary to liaise with a number of administrative staff within the department. The overwhelming majority of those who were working in administration were fantastic; friendly, courteous, competent and efficient.

There was, however, one particular administrative staff member with whom all of the faculty staff had had difficulty. This particular young lady's attitude was, unfortunately, quite problematic. She was consistently rude, arrogant, dismissive (even aggressive) and it had gotten to the point where many of the academic staff within the department felt decidedly uncomfortable in seeking the administrative assistance that was required to do their jobs.

Having put up with this staff member's behaviour for more than 12 months, on one particular day I simply needed an administrative task completed lest my students be disadvantaged as a result. This meant 'running the gauntlet' i.e. requesting assistance from 'admin' in the hope that the task would be allocated to someone other than the young lady discussed.

Unfortunately, the administrative task that I needed completed was allocated to Jane (not her real name). It was a disaster, Jane's arrogance and rudeness was on full display and I'd had enough.

Heading back to my office, I was very (very) angry with the way I'd been treated. As a very friendly, polite person, it just seemed so unnecessary and, for some reason, at that moment I was feeling all of the frustration that had been building up over the previous 12 months.

It was therefore time to take action. Over the previous 2 years, I'd developed a very good working relationship (and personal friendship) with our School Manger and it was time to write her a 'strongly worded letter' about the behaviour of one of her staff.

Seething with self-righteous anger and frustration, I sat down and wrote what - in the state I was in - I thought was a professional sounding complaint about the behaviour and actions of a fellow staff member. Before pressing 'send', however, something occurred to me: one of the things that my lecturers at Stanford keep telling those of us who are studying decision quality is that people should never make important decisions when they are not 'decision fit'. I paused and sat back in my chair. 'I'm so angry about this', I thought. Examining my feelings in light of my training, I wondered if my frustration and anger might be coming through in the very 'carefully' worded email I'd just put together. After all, Jennifer (the School Manager - not her real name) was a trusted colleague and friend and I certainly didn't want to offend or upset her as she had played no role in Jane behaviour and was consistently fantastic to work with.

Seething with self-righteous anger and frustration, I sat down and wrote what - in the state I was in - I thought was a professional sounding complaint about the behaviour and actions of a fellow staff member. Before pressing 'send', however, something occurred to me: one of the things that my lecturers at Stanford keep telling those of us who are studying decision quality is that people should never make important decisions when they are not 'decision fit'.

'Maybe I should get someone else to have a look at this email', I thought. 'Just in case it's a little unprofessional'.

No prizes for what happened next. I forwarded the draft to a third party I trusted and asked them what they thought. No longer than 2 minutes passed and my phone rang. 'Do NOT send that email', she said.

I took my colleague's advice, waited until the next day and redrafted the email to the School Manager. What was extraordinary to me, however (and the point to be made), is that in my frustrated, angry state, I thought that what I was writing was both professional and rational when in actual fact, the anger I felt was 'leaping off the page'.

In my frustrated, angry state, I thought that what I was writing was both professional and rational when in actual fact, the anger I felt was 'leaping off the page'

For me, this incident both crystallised the need for ongoing critical self-awareness when making important decisions and taught me an extraordinarily valuable lesson: postpone or delay making important decisions when you are not 'decision fit'.

This one, simple habit can dramatically improve the quality of your personal and professional decisions. It does, however, require you to develop a conscious awareness of when your mental state is likely to negatively impact upon or distort your decisions. In practice, this means postponing making of decisions which are likely to have significant consequences when you are, for example, tired, hungry, angry, emotional or sick.

The development of this one, simple habit - knowing when not to make a decision by training yourself to recognise a negative emotional or physical state - has the potential to significantly improve the overall quality of your decisions

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most effective ways in which you can immediately improve the quality of your decisions (and, fortunately, can be cultivated over time). Indeed, the development of this one, simple habit - knowing when not to make a decision by training yourself to recognise a negative emotional or physical state - has the potential to significantly improve the overall quality of your decisions by enabling you to avoid making decisions which are primarily a product of tiredness, hunger, anger, sickness or emotion – rather than clear, conscious, deliberative thought.

Have you had an experience which is similar to the above? Conversely, have you ever made a bad decision in a poor mental state and had to deal with the consequences? What did you learn from your experiences?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Seth Nicholls is the Director of Nicholls Consulting Services. Based in Australia, Nicholls Consulting helps individuals, businesses and other organisations achieve superior professional and personal outcomes by equipping them with knowledge, skills and tools to make decisions strategically. Nicholls Consulting has helped thousands of people in the public and private sectors make superior business and policy decisions. To find out how Nicholls Consulting Services can improve the decisions made by you, your company or organisation, visit nichollsconsulting.com.au