Decision-making in its most basic form is the act of choosing between two or more courses of action. Each and every person in the world is faced with the decision-making process on a daily basis – whether it’s trivial things like deciding what is for dinner or which route to take to work or more serious life-changing decisions like what your next career move should be or which home is the best long-term investment for your family. To be effective in the decision-making process, it is imperative to avoid impulsive behavior and really think each scenario through. This can be done via pros/cons list, intuition, and/or reasoning. All methods have both advantages and disadvantages. Regardless of the method(s) chosen, avoid the following problems that can hinder effective decision-making: not having enough information to see the big picture, having too much information and going down the path of “analysis paralysis”, having too many hands in the pot, vested interests, emotional attachments, and having no emotional attachment. Being effective in the decision-making process is key to future success!
