How to Prevent Yourself from Making Bad Decisions at Work
How to Prevent Yourself from Making Bad Decisions at Work
Emotions make you act. Logic makes you think. Notice the order I put those in.
Most people think they act out of logic but the reality is that you act out of emotion and you justify your actions by logic.
Understanding this fact is key to your success to stop making bad decisions. In order to make a good decision you need to manage the emotions rather than have them manage you. In order to do this you need to remove judgment from your thinking and get clarity on the facts.
- Remove judgment by looking at the problem from ALL sides. Write down what you are thinking as you ponder the problem from your point of view, then from all other parties point of view. Put these written thoughts down in columns so you can see them side by side.
- Next go through and cross out all opinions, and judgmental words so all you are left with is concrete fact.
- Scan the facts from all angles. If you need to buy some distance and time from the problem so you can get clear thinking.
- Write down possible solutions that each party would want. Again cross out any judgmental or assumptive words.
- Look at it and try to come up with a solution that embraces all sides.
You will be surprised how often you cloud your judgment by being assumptive about why people do what they do or by taking a fact plus opinion and turning it in to a different fact.
Take Action: This week take a problem you are facing and try this method to see if you can see new insights you didn’t see before.
For more insights on how to make decisions click here to read Anne’s article on How to Make a Decision That Sticks Rather Than Gets You Stuck