“Success comes from decisiveness and course correction, not long delays and procrastination to attempt making only flawless choices.” Maxwell Maltz The New Psycho-Cybernetics
When I read the above quote I realize how ineffective I am at decision making. I drive my wife crazy because I look over every option on the menu and want a little of everything. With that being said I am going to introduce to you concepts from someone much smarter than me on decision making to help you make better decisions especially in high stress situations.
During my Masters coursework I was introduced to Henry Thompson’s book The Stress Effect. During the beginning of the book he introduces two basic decision making strategies: rational and intuitive.
Rational – that is what I tend to do at restaurants and with many decisions. I analyze and try to decide the best option, but quite honestly I get overly concerned about making the perfect decision and constantly second guess myself. This is a very conscious process.
Intuitive – these are the decisions we make instantaneously, emotionally, and most often in an unconscious manner. When you are driving the car and avoid an accident or reroute the course of a meeting because of a “gut feeling”, these are examples of intuitive decisions.
The rest of this post will describe a model for making effective intuitive decisions and later I will share Thompson’s model which helps in making rational decisions. Since we live in an instant world why not start with the faster model.
Recognition-Primed Decision Model – this is an intuitive decision making model developed by Gary Klein. I will spare you the details of how he created this because you can read it in Thompson’s book if you would like. The following list describes his steps:
- Assess the situation – What is going on?
- Evaluate a course of action – How will I implement this action?
- Select an option – What option will work?
- Develop a solution set – Keep it small
- Generate and evaluate options – Which one will work?
- Adjust the option – How can I avoid weak areas in this option?
- Take action – Confidently move forward
Great a theoretical model. How does that help me as a leader today? Sometimes conscious awareness will help us access the system in times of need. All of this happens in moments as we determine and act upon our decision. As you have quick decisions to make, hopefully these principles will help you to make a workable solution which may not be perfect, but will take you in the right direction.
In moments of great stress, time is of the essence and leaders need to find workable solutions quickly to get the best results possible. Every decision is not intuitive, but for those that are this model can help provide a way to explain the intuitive decisions that every leader makes. What strategies do you use to make effective intuitive decisions? Post a comment below.
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