Problem Solving and Decision Making: Personal Decision Making
Problem solving and decision-making is 2 of the most common and important things that an individual is required to do in modern day life.
Your ability to successfully complete these 2 skills (on a daily basis) is a huge determinant of how successful you will be in your life and in the goals that you set for yourself.
Below are a number of tips and techniques to aid you in effective problem solving and decision making within your life: 1.
Remember to press the "pause button", to give yourself a time limit and obtain as much information as possible before making a decision.
Aim to be someone in the middle on this continuum.
Some people spend too much time gathering information, while others don't spend long enough.
2.
When making a decision, realise that you will never have all the available information in front of you to make a definitive decision.
Be comfortable with this fact.
Remember not making a decision, is still making a decision.
At this point in time (where you are in a position to make an informed decision), the important thing is that you make a decision, that is your own and not someone else's.
3.
A lot of people dislike making decisions and prefer for others to make decisions for them.
Try and refrain from this behaviour as much as possible.
There is a lot of growth to be had in making your own decisions.
By all means, discuss different courses of action with other people, just make sure that you are the one making the decision in the end.
4.
Use your intuition when problem solving and making decisions.
Studies have found that we use our "gut feeling" to make effective decisions.
We use reason and rationale later on to justify the decision that we have made.
5.
Don't rush into making a decision.
If there is not a clear answer, then don't force one.
Sometimes taking 24 hours or a weekend to make a decision is a useful idea.
If an idea still makes sense at the start of the next day or week, then usually it is the correct option.
6.
Develop a list of pros and cons when making a decision.
Alternatively, identify what the key issues are that should be taken into consideration when making the decision.
7.
Remember to play the devil's advocate or get someone to play this role for you.
This usually involves thinking about all the things that could go wrong if a certain decision is reached.
8.
Remember the Pareto principle "80% of output is derived from 20% input".
Remember not to overanalyze things.
Identify the issues at hand and make a decision.
9.
It is also important to think "outside the box" when analyzing problems.
It is sometimes referred to as "changing your context".
You can do this in a number of different ways.
For example, change physical locations, get a completely different perspective from someone who know.
Remember to be creative.
10.
Instead of focusing on the "what", try focusing on the "why".
Why is this a problem for me? Instead of what needs to happen.
Your ability to successfully complete these 2 skills (on a daily basis) is a huge determinant of how successful you will be in your life and in the goals that you set for yourself.
Below are a number of tips and techniques to aid you in effective problem solving and decision making within your life: 1.
Remember to press the "pause button", to give yourself a time limit and obtain as much information as possible before making a decision.
Aim to be someone in the middle on this continuum.
Some people spend too much time gathering information, while others don't spend long enough.
2.
When making a decision, realise that you will never have all the available information in front of you to make a definitive decision.
Be comfortable with this fact.
Remember not making a decision, is still making a decision.
At this point in time (where you are in a position to make an informed decision), the important thing is that you make a decision, that is your own and not someone else's.
3.
A lot of people dislike making decisions and prefer for others to make decisions for them.
Try and refrain from this behaviour as much as possible.
There is a lot of growth to be had in making your own decisions.
By all means, discuss different courses of action with other people, just make sure that you are the one making the decision in the end.
4.
Use your intuition when problem solving and making decisions.
Studies have found that we use our "gut feeling" to make effective decisions.
We use reason and rationale later on to justify the decision that we have made.
5.
Don't rush into making a decision.
If there is not a clear answer, then don't force one.
Sometimes taking 24 hours or a weekend to make a decision is a useful idea.
If an idea still makes sense at the start of the next day or week, then usually it is the correct option.
6.
Develop a list of pros and cons when making a decision.
Alternatively, identify what the key issues are that should be taken into consideration when making the decision.
7.
Remember to play the devil's advocate or get someone to play this role for you.
This usually involves thinking about all the things that could go wrong if a certain decision is reached.
8.
Remember the Pareto principle "80% of output is derived from 20% input".
Remember not to overanalyze things.
Identify the issues at hand and make a decision.
9.
It is also important to think "outside the box" when analyzing problems.
It is sometimes referred to as "changing your context".
You can do this in a number of different ways.
For example, change physical locations, get a completely different perspective from someone who know.
Remember to be creative.
10.
Instead of focusing on the "what", try focusing on the "why".
Why is this a problem for me? Instead of what needs to happen.
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