How to take good decisions?

When we take a decision we become responsible for it and, no one wants to take responsibility, therefore, no one takes decisions. I have seen many people who feel happy in following decisions made by others but, they never try to take a decision by themselves. 

 

There are two reasons why people don’t take decisions-

1. Fear of Failure- They are afraid of making a mistake or getting failed in what they have thought of doing and this fear pushes them not to take decisions.

2. Fear of Hurting Someone- In a typical Asian family most of the decisions are taken by the elders of the family and no one chips-in their decisions. Many times fear or love of elders compels people not to take their own decisions.

A person who has any of these two fears in its life will always feel awkward in taking any decision.

It is extremely important to understand the decision making mechanism so that we can succeed in most of our decisions. 

There are two types of decisions-

1. Reversible Decisions- These are those types of decisions which we can alter if something goes wrong.

2. Irreversible Decisions- Irreversible decisions are those decisions which we cannot alter if something goes wrong.

Never ever take an irreversible decision in life i.e. a decision which you cannot change. If a situation comes where you have to take a cut-throat decision then it is better you take it in a group and not individually.

Decision is taken either by an individual or group. To save yourself from Office politics always take Group-decisions. Even Governments of different countries advocate group decision making that is why they make committees or panel and make them responsible for any decision.

The different advantages of Group decision making are-

i)  It is easy to implement it because many different people facilitate in it.

ii) Responsibility of a decision is carried by many people. Hence, it becomes easy to manage failures.

iii)Effectiveness of decision increases because many people with different mindset brainstorm on it.
 

Creative thinking is also an important component of decision making. Creative thinking is an ability to think of consequences of your decisions. People who can clearly think about the consequences of their decisions are the people who should be treasured the   most because they become great advisors and planners.  

The decision making process which should be followed while in an organization is-

1. Identify the problem (you can do this individually or in a group)

2. Find alternative solutions (only in a group)

3. Implement the solution (only reversible decision taken)

4. Evaluate the consequences.

At every level, have a written document signed by all group members as a proof of evidence. The same document can be used for future references.