The Decision-Making Process – 4 Critical Points You Must Know!

It can be said that the life that we live today is a direct by-product of the level of our decision-making process of  both the “powers that be” and “the powers that were”.

In this short article we will explore what the decision-making process is and point out the 4 critical points that anyone who wants to make a difference in their life MUST know.

This may sound a little harsh, but let’s face it, reality is a hard mistress, and the sooner we know it the quicker we can better our lives, both on the personal front and of course on the professional front.

So, let’s dive in and let me show you what paradigm shift in thinking is needed in order to create the change that you need and possibly want.

What is The Decision-Making Process About & How It Evolved Through History 

The history and evolution of the decision-making process are intrinsically connected to the state of affairs in the world in the 21st century.

The level of the decision-making process directly influences every living person, from mundane matters like choice of toothpaste to education to government, to road building, to etiquette of eating, to celebrating occasions (everyone is expected to sing the same happy birthday tune…all over the world would you believe…who decided that?) to religious matters…and to thousands of every-day matters, which we don’t even question.

Unfortunately, most people have forfeited their right to really learn how to think and decide for themselves.

The level and the result of the decision-making that was set by others become the “bible” of what one should and shouldn’t think or do.

It becomes more damaging in the mental and emotional realms where we are all expected to:

• “Obey” moralities (decided by others, for example, apologizing for yawning…),
• Pass examinations (Parrot fashion learning material decided by others, on “dead” matters of the past that bear no relation to the present),
• Say things we are expected to say (or risk being judged and labeled),
• How to think… about anything, We are expected to conform to the general, acceptable, low level, herd-like, non-specific, personal way of thinking or face the court of “judgment” (completely cultish). It is ludicrous that people are worried about those who join cults when we all belong to the biggest cult ever!

Do You Realize You Have Been Conditioned How To Think

What this is intimating is that we have been deprived of basic aspects of living that prevent us from understanding how to think, and what is a success for real, or the meaning of what is a win for us individually.

We mostly live in a “hand me down” decision making world, in which we are expected to agree with silly decisions, no questions asked.

This is the crux of the matter that prevents decision making from being the art it was meant to be and it starts from childhood.

Our decision-making process has been interfered with from a very young age, subjected to methods of command, control, and punishment, rather,  then information, direction, reasoning, and encouragement to think for ourselves.

Just consider the fact that we are ‘force-fed” subjects like maths and physics from our early youth, and are made to think that they are the markers of our intelligence (which is a lie).

Furthermore, we get tested on our ability to memorize and figure out useless formulas, and then graded like cattle.

It is totally ludicrous that such an unintelligent and obsolete method of education grades our intelligence (O dear!).

Do we really wonder why our youth is so frustrated and cynical about going to school?

It would have been somewhat hopeful if some of the compulsory subjects studied in educational institutions around the world would have been How To Think  & What Is The Decision-Making Process About, and what is Emotional Intelligence (to name just a few alternatives) but they are not.

In fact, you are encouraged not to think for yourself and obey your controllers, or else…(Is this modern-day slavery, one asks?)

Sure, for the sake of social order we need to follow some of the decisions made by others, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them, but why should we be obedient followers of outdated decisions that are empty of logic or emotional intelligence and only serve the few?

The tragic fact is that most adults have given up and now “hard-sell” to their children to follow the same futile system that turns the majority of them into followers.

You may think that what I am writing is hard but I can assure you that this is a very mild view of the “systematic mind oppression” of the 21st century.

What Is The Decision-Making Process, For Leadership Today?

I am sure that every person is capable of an effective decision-making level that is constructive and based on a serious system of thinking and emotional intelligence.

It is my professional view that if people knew what is system thinking, learn the basics of how to think, what strategic thinking is, and understand the importance of what is emotional intelligence about, and what is critical thinking about, then their decision-making level would elevate to new heights.

In my humble opinion, from the experience of training thousands of professionals in the past 25 years, over 90% of the decisions that are made do not follow any professional level of thinking.

It cost them dearly because the best ROI for companies is to teach their workforce to take responsibility! Well, people need the right skillset and operate in a business environment that will encourage them to practice creative thinking without “The Sword of Damocles” hanging over their head.

Unfortunately, most leadership decisions are not strategic and are made in a casual, haphazard way, mostly relying on past experience, or on wishful thinking, or blinded by their own ambition and personal agenda.

This often includes top corporate personnel and high government officials.

If you, as a leader, want to have an effective decision-making process, you need to ask yourself some serious, critical thinking questions, about your attitude in the matter (before you address your actual skill and ability), and don’t shy away from the answers, even if they throw you way off your comfort zone.

It is your attitude that will determine your decision making skill, not the other way around!

Critical Thinking Questions You Should Ask Yourself As A leader

• Do you see the need to improve your thinking skills?
• Are you open to learning?
• Are you assumptive or careful by nature?
• Are you too sure of yourself?
• What is the Decision-Making Process for you?
• Are you aware enough and skilled enough to make life decisions that affect others?
• Do you consider short and long-term consequences, thoroughly, before you make decisions?
• How do you use your feelings and instinct when you make a decision or do you?
• What is it that you don’t do now as a leader, in your decision-making process, that if you did, would dramatically improve your leadership abilities and catapult you to the next level and the levels beyond?
• “Do I know enough about the subject or do I need more information?”- you connect to the big picture of the subject by growing your information base and possibly becoming aware of facts you were not aware of before. This is a great start!
•  “Why should I decide the way I thought to decide?”- here you become your own “devil’s advocate” by refusing to adopt reasons of convenience. This part will make your decision reasonable.
• “What are the consequences of my decision?” – 3 short-term and 6 long-term consequences (not the other way around!). This part of the process of decision making will make you cautious and safe

These critical thinking questions, although challenging, can redefine what is leadership about and what is management about in a way that presents a paradigm shift in modern leadership.

We can use our personal life as a training ground for decisions we make professionally and vice-versa because all decisions follow the same process.

What The Thinking Coach Training Seminars Can Do For You & Your Organization?

These corporate training seminars are based on 25 years of international experience that stretch across nations, cultures, continents and thousands of professionals.

The objective is to get you to the next level by firstly creating in you the desire to succeed and the belief that you can, and then show you how to think and make decisions that are original and safe.

The Thinking Coach Leadership Training Courses and Employee Training Development train professionals to think for themselves and learn what is the decision making process about and only then make decisions.

The key and the uniqueness of these programs is that they provide a training ecology where the participant can spot their “hinge” point and clearly see the small yet strategic changes they need to make to move on to a level of excellence.

Eli Harari

The Life Coach for Professionals™

 

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