Our careers are made up of millions of decisions. Because of this, the number-one habit of successful people is that they make good decisions. And once they make a decision, they don’t spend time worrying about whether the decision is right or wrong. Successful people deal with the consequences of their decisions as they arise and continue moving. Yes, inevitably they might make some “wrong” decisions, but that’s par for the course of progress and growth.
Being hesitant to make decisions keeps you stuck where you are. And what’s more, not deciding is, in itself, a decision.
In the office, many workers use the excuse of needing more data and more information to make choices, but the reality is that after a certain point, data collecting can become counterproductive. In fact, I have often found that gathering too much information is often a procrastination tool to avoid doing something uncomfortable.
While we can postulate on all the potential avenues and outcomes that a decision might lead to, the truth is we can never know for sure. The law of unintended consequences states that we can never know all potential outcomes of a decision, until it is in action.
So, how can we make better and quicker decisions? Here are four ways workers can learn to make more effective decisions throughout their careers and personal lives:
Understand your gut
Firstly, learn to tap into your gut feelings. This takes practice because it can be difficult to differentiate between feelings of anxiety and gut instincts. Learning the signs that your gut is speaking to you is important. I often ask this question to my clients: “Give me an example of a time you went against your strong gut feeling and it went well for you?” I have yet to meet the person that could give me that example. Listening to your gut and intuition is grounded in science. Researchers have found that our guts can be an effective and quick way to make good decisions. “Scientific experiments have confirmed that while conscious deliberation produces better outcomes for simple choices, complex decisions involving multiple factors are better served by subconscious deliberation,” says Hortense le Gentil, author of Aligned: Connecting Your True Self with the Leader You’re Meant to Be.
Do your due diligence—within reason
Secondly, apply your brain to logically think through the potential outcomes of the decision and do any due diligence that you need to do. Remember that you can never analyze all possible outcomes, because you will never have enough data to predict everything with 100% accuracy. No decision is perfect. If you’re feeling stuck, look at the potential impact of not making the decision, and if that will mean remaining in a nonoptimal position. We are wired to stay in our comfort zone but when we look at the lost opportunity cost, that can help us to move.
Track your results and adapt
Thirdly, it’s important to track the results of your decisions. If the outcomes of a given decision are going as expected within the timeline you set, great. If things are not going as expected, look at why that might be and whether you need to tweak, or course correct your approach. Unfortunately, many workers, leaders, and businesses bypass this stage. This can be because of a person’s ego (not wanting to admit failure or that they made the “wrong” decision) or because it’s easier to just carry on and push forward. However, if you want to make better decisions, you need to track your results and adjust when needed.
Look for learnings
Fourthly, in order to make better decisions you need to reflect on what you can learn from each decision you make. If things didn’t go as you hoped, look at where you might have fallen short in the process. Did you not listen to your gut? Did you jump into the decision out of fear? Did you not act to course correct the decision? Or if it did go as you hoped? No matter the answer, you are building up a body of evidence for yourself and growing into a better decision-maker.
So, if you find yourself procrastinating on making a decision, listen to your gut and do your research. Once you make a decision, track the outcomes and search for any lessons you can take into the future.
