SERIES: Taking Care of YOU! Improving Your Judgement and Decision-Making Skills
Did you know that judgement and decision making are skills that not only help make you employable, but can also help keep you employed? If you want to make a positive impact, good judgement matters. So, what is good judgement? Most everybody has an opinion of what they believe is good judgement. Some people think that good judgement is:
« Making a reasonable decision at a point in time
« A desirable trait (like intelligence and independent thinking)
« Choosing the pros and cons of potential actions to select the appropriate option
« A good forecaster (someone who weighs sometimes complex information and makes a good judgement)
« Arriving at well-thought-out conclusions based on valuable information and resisting biases
« Making good decisions based on key information
« Someone who is insightful, can connect the dots, and solved well-defined problems
« A good strategic thinker or someone who is very knowledgeable. (Don’t assume that knowledgeable people exhibit good judgement. Best to observe them over time to determine whether there is a pattern of good judgement.)
« Good decision making (research shows that good decision making depends on intelligence, strategy, and good judgement)
Whatever opinion you may have about good judgement, it can be to your advantage to beware of ways to improve your judgement. Here are a few examples:
« Adopt the attitude that problems are unresolved opportunities. Engage your thinking gears in a challenging mode, think positive, and avoid negative thoughts
« Reduce your challenge to smaller components (e.g., seemingly large tasks can be accomplished if done in smaller proportions)
« Think of alternative assumptions
« Provide yourself with strong incentives for accurate results (recognition, approval by your peers, a monetary award, etc.)
« Become a competent probabilistic thinker, enabling you to deal with uncertainty
« When in doubt, consider opposite points of view. By doing so can strengthen your judgement and may help you make the best decision
« Avoid letting your unconscious preferences and motivations influence your decision making
« Don’t be afraid to accept your mistakes, own them, and accept negative feedback warranted
« Keep track of what hasn’t worked and avoid repeating.
« Take the time to be around those who you believe have good judgement. Listen and observe carefully.
Decision making can be as simple as choosing wisely the best option that is available to you or more difficult when you face complex situations where there are many unknowns and no clear choices. Of course, there is always one option that is immediately available and that is not to decide at all. If you make that choice the greater the risk of more serious issues developing. The following are some ways you can improve your decision-making skills:
« Before making a decision, it is best to do so in a calm state of mind. Also, if you are exceptionally fatigued, after a long day, and the decision is not an emergency it would be to your advantage to delay the decision making to another time
« Think about what you would expect to accomplish with your decision. If you’re having issues with a friend or fellow employee imagine what kind of relationship you prefer to have with that person. When you have goal clarity you’re more likely to achieve favorable results
« Lean on your friend, data, when necessary. Making a data-driven decision can be a wise approach
« Avoid letting your decisions be driven by your emotions. Think objectively about how your decision will impact others
« For difficult decisions include those whose perspectives you value. Their views might enhance the quality of your decision
« Set a short deadline for your decision. Long wait times can lead to second-guessing.
« Avoid indecisions. Choose the behavior and expect consequences (good or bad)
« Use rational thinking combined with intuition only if you have a favorable track record with the effectiveness of your intuition.
It is unlikely, in your lifetime, you will ever see a single perfect decision maker, but you will see a lot of good decision makers. Take care of YOU and practice exercising good judgement and be a good decision maker.
