The best/worst decision, ever by SIGNYM

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The best/worst decision, ever

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Friday, January 6, 2017 06:47
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Friday, January 6, 2017 6:47 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Thinking about individual decision-making, there are some circumstances that almost guarantee the worst-decision-ever.

There are several kinds of decisions: the kind made in emergency circumstances, the longer-term personal ones, and the impersonal ones.

The kinds made under emergency circumstances: I read an article which said that most people don't react to the situation. What they react to is the MODEL of the situation that they have embedded in their heads. In emergency situations, the best most-effective responses have been trained ones. I've witnessed accidents and brawls, and the best responses are by those who have been already-trained: EMTs, mostly. But for those who are NOT trained: people in mass accidents, for example ... they spend a lot of time in denial This can't be happening. The best responses are by those who assess the circumstances immediately and respond to them, and then keep on keeping on. Yes, some people survive by dumb luck, but the real survivors are those who persist in effective action.

Then there are the life-changing decisions: Should I have a child? Do I move for my career? What if I'm HIV positive? Who do I vote for? Those decisions are best made NOT under stress. People under stress mentally narrow their scope of action, tremendously. They typically don't understand the drivers that are creating the stress. Under those circumstances, where the stress is self imposed, the best course of action is to remove the stress before making a decision.

And finally there are impersonal decisions: Those affecting someone other than the person making the decision. The errors in those decision-making processes seem to involve inserting ones personal motivations for the one(s) being decided-for. Things like medical prognoses and potential recidivism are most accurately assessed by statistics. Computers work better than people.

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In my experience, the best decisions are those where "the decider" manages to remove him- or herself from the equation: the situation isn't clouded by the most heartfelt emotional response, but by the one where the circumstances are judged most clearly.

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So I wonder, for example whether education in "decision-making" wouldn't be useful? And what are the best - and worst- decisions that you have made, and why did you make them?

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