Tough decisions are no fun.
When lives or livelihoods are affected, stomachs churn, anxiety sets in, and sleep becomes difficult.
You know the biggest and toughest ones: hiring and firing, selling and buying, moving on or staying put. All of these have serious consequences when it comes to happiness, health and wealth.
David Maxfield via HBR, points to the teachings of Alexander George (1920-2006), an American behavioral scientist and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Stanford University. George analyzed presidential decision-making during his career and determined two key factors that make some decisions so hard:
Uncertainty: Presidents never have the time or resources to fully understand all of the implications their decisions will have.
“Value Complexity”: This is George’s term to explain that even the “best” decisions will harm some people and undermine values leaders would prefer to support.
Let’s focus on uncertainty. The first step is to make sure we don’t make things worse. Watch out for these missteps:
Avoidance. Instead of dealing with problems when they begin to simmer, we avoid them until they are at a full boil.
Fixation. We often fixate on the immediate threat. In this fight or flight mode, we’re not able to think strategically and often miss the broader context and longer-term ramifications.
Over-simplification. Binary thinking starts to dominate, we think in terms of Option A and Option B, rather than across the spectrum of possible solutions.
Isolation. It may feel safer to hide it from friends, family or colleagues, but its just another form of avoidance.
Below are ways to deal with and reduce uncertainty:
Assess the situation. Add up the risks of not acting. Seeing these costs will push you out of avoidance. Then consider the pluses and minuses of your options.
Don’t get stuck. Challenge any either/or assumptions. Ask, “Can we do both?” and “What other options are available?”
Add others’ perspectives. Don’t stew alone. Instead, talk to people you trust about the decision and your assessment. These conversations will expand your thinking.
Try a test run. Find a small-scale way to test your options. Use these tests to reassess the costs and benefits of your different options.
Take a step. Break a complex decision into simple steps. Determine the very next step you need to take and then take it.
Tough decisions are never easy, and chances are you’ll never feel like you have enough information. But there are ways to accept your circumstances, realistically evaluate your options, and then act on the best information available – more quickly and with more certainty.
Have a great week.
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