Decision making

What factors do you think differentiate good decision-makers from poor ones?

Schindler stated that “The best rule to follow is to make your decisions without a long huffing, puffing rumpus, and fuss. Decide what you are going to do about a problem, then quit thinking about it” (2003, 128).

I believe that the most critical decision-making category that needs to be addressed here is the “Organizational non-programmed decisions”. The following are the most critical purposes for Organizational non-programmed decisions; first, is to offer a solution for existing problems. In other words, to find an alternative plan to carry out an existing objective to achieve the desired results. For example: if your organization suffers a drop in benefits then decision-makers need to spot the problematic strategy and replace it (The problem can be in the advertising campaign which needs to be replaced by a better campaign or maybe the marketing strategy, the product, or service itself, etc.) the actual difficulty here is to spot the problem. The second is to offer a solution or a plan to carry out the new objectives.

I believe the nominal group technique from the Vecchio text (2006, 196) to be effective for the decision-making process but my only complaint about this technique is that the nominal group has no leader assigned to it (we already talked about the importance of leadership). The stepladder techniques from the Vecchio text (2006, 198) are somehow close to perfect in my opinion. It helps rush new blood into the group every step of the process which adds new angels to the thinking of the group instead of projecting the thoughts to the same angle.

A person must develop certain skills to become a good decision-maker. The following factors are important for becoming a good decision maker:

1. Fast at making decisions and slow at changing them

2. Problem-solving skills (locating the problem is a more crucial issue here)

3. The ability to zoom out and see the entire picture instead of zooming in and seeing only pixels (valuing different options and Looking at a decision from different perspectives)

4. Logical analysis and research

“In the multitude of practical problems you are obligated to meet in the course of living, you can not possibly always be right, or make precisely the move that would be to your greatest interest … it is better to adjust your thinking to allowing and admitting a few mistakes that it is to keep milling and turning every little problem over and over in your mind” (Schindler, 127)

References:

John A. Schindler (2003) How to live 365 days a year. Pennsylvania, PA: Running press book publisher

Vecchio, R.P. (2006) Organisational Behaviour: Core Concepts. 6th edition. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.