Producing Horrendous Outcomes by Making Very Bad Decisions

The struggles of personal and profession are challenging. Everyday we face new obstacles and challenges that push us to the extremes of endurance and sustainment. In routine human fashion we invoke our knowledge and experience to combat the onslaught. Sometimes we win and sometimes it seems as though the flow of misfortune may never stop. We are driven by instinct that becomes subjected to alteration through the act of making decisions. It’s these decision choices that culminate in producing outcomes.

Making Bad Decision Choices

Choices are a right regardless of where we live or in what social situation that exists. A positive decision choice in one nation may result in harsh punishment in another. To make matters more confusing we have a convergence of many values that create a jambalaya of conflict conditions. This creates the basis by which decision are seldom universal and are decided upon by the greatest positive influence they will produce.

Bad decisions result when the dynamics of decision are overlooked in favor of intuition, popular and personal opinions and unnecessary spontaneous choices made.  

Bad decisions occur from,

Rabid Independence

Freedom is intoxicating and when under the influence even the simplest decisions are overshadowed with runaway abandon. In spite of our upbringing our privilege of choice exposes us as a willing tool for exploitation. Showing a bit of attention, some consoling words and a bit of appropriate encouragement is all it takes to cause decisions to be made with little to no sufficient value to you.

Morality Lost

As an extension of freedoms we are compelled to temper morals. It becomes the slippery slope from conservative conduct to liberal abandonment. There was a time in which two people in the same bed would be considered immoral in so far as TV viewing was concerned, now we have all sorts of intimate perversions in all forums including our schools. In 1968 (against 1969 Miss America pageant) feminist civil rights activist burn bras in protest, partially nude protests occur.  Morality has both social and religious basis and represents the high water mark for respectable and dignified conduct. Decisions that blatantly disregard appropriate moral conditions jeopardize outcomes being sought.

Emotional Spirit Distraction

A bit like rabid behavior emotional spirit is not stirred by freedom but excited by factors of influence, blind to consequences, absorbing excessive risk (willingly and without concern) and provocation. Emotionally spirit distract attention from the issues and distort the ability to make rational decision choices. Controlling emotion, especially the blind extremes, will produce clarity for appropriate decisions to be made.

Lies for the sake of Convenience

People are proud and to protect our dignity we have choices as to how it is maintained. The pervasive availability of communication has propagated lies. What starts our as simple sharing results in wide spread propagation of false information. Even tools used to fact check have given way to prejudicial authenticity creating lies on top of lies. Even partial truths, taken out of context receive amplification created by personal conviction. We see it pervasively in both private and enterprise settings. The receiver of such information is challenged to validate in order to use for making decisions, or suffer the consequences and embarrassment that can result.

Following the Crowd

Relinquishing your choices and placing reliance in the position of others makes assumptions relating to discernment.  The opinions of the masses is only as good as the conditions by which the decision are made. Emotions, baseless and fact less justification, and runaway fervor contribute to decisions made based on false pretenses.

Notoriety Endorsements 

Opinions are dangerous in much the same way as Following the Crowd.  When a person of notoriety makes a statement one has to question the value of their opinion. Is it opinion or fact, are the able to express a qualified stance? We have seen this illustrated in the opinions relating to global warming, immigration, fair trade and governmental conduct. In the case of business we have seen the emergence of opinions from corporate heads that utilize their business brands to establish a position. This occurs despite relevancy and the potential polarizing effect it will have on their market base.

Small Book – Few Chapters

We have all heard the term ‘common sense’. A large part of our decision making is based upon experience with support from knowledge acquired. Fueled by the privilege of expressing ones self and stimulated by the motive of making a difference the decisions that are made are at best haphazardly appropriate. Sometimes you get lucky and other times you end up with the consequences, which aren’t always readily considered. It takes to time and sufficient experience to moderate and observe, using this quiet time to contemplate deeper.

Rigid Bias

Bias exists in everyone’s character, it serves as the basis of opinion. When opinions are expressed it is done with intent. The intent most often is to persuade but all to commonly we may rely on the ‘educational/sharing’ excuse as a cover for our real motives. Since opinions are driven by emotion, unhealthy emotion (eg. hate/love) distorts our view. Distortions without factual pursuit and content becomes rigid bias. In Western culture the ‘right’ of opinion is not a reason for irresponsible and undignified conduct. To produce a proper social setting for present and future generations our right of opinion must be delivered in a responsible fashion and be sufficiently vetted by using facts. When the facts are obscure or interpretative then we are obligated to qualify our opinion. This allows for rigidity to be tempered (even though it may still be rigid).

Each of these situations is relevant to both business and personal decision making situations.

Oh, Oh Outcomes

Actions have consequences and the basis of our decisions will determine the outcome that we will be facing. It would be unfair to say that only right decisions produce right outcomes because there are external extenuating circumstances that can temper outcome. Likewise it would also be unjust to say that bad decisions won’t produce great outcomes. The most notable example is the right of descent. When exercised responsibility it has the potential to be a catalyst for positive outcomes. In this example the balance of risk-and-reward are in harmony, temper protest with violence and the balance is askew and positive outcomes are jeopardized.

As a business owner and a contributor to society I am very aware of,

• Balance of Risk-and-Reward,
• Necessity for constructive change,
• Importance of freedoms,
• Responsible acts/actions, and
• Principals of reaction, action, adaption and adoption.

These elements must be engrained into our persona, made instinctively and exercised with the highest degree of decorum. Departures have consequences that are for the most part avoidable. The consequences have profound and lasting emotional, financial and spiritual (religious/non-religious) results. Therefore we should not trifle with the natural precious that has formed over the course of time but respect it as a jeweler would do to a fine timepiece.

Decision Points:

• Are we avoiding decision conditions that present outcome risk consequences?
• Should our habits change to avoid disruptive contribution to situations that are irrelevant to our business?
• Have we presently got decision exposures that need to be rectified and in what way must we right the situation?
• What impact will the balance of risk-and-reward have on our inner and outer circles?
• Is there a conflict in the decision conditions as it relates to the reach of our enterprise?

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Clarity Group Global is an intellectual decision validation institution dedicated to the support of leaders, companies and organizations that face challenging choices. Making right decisions that produce significant value equates to less disruption and chaos, "non-tradition made exceptional".

Examples and illustrations are used for purposes of contextually clarity. These fervently adhere to our unwavering commitment to client confidentiality and should be construed as a ploy to self-promote.