Good decisions can become a lot easier

Decisions are the end result of a decision making process.

Good decisions start before you get the decision making process.

In the desire to make the best possible decision, you might jump into the decision making process from the moment the responsibility falls to you. You start creating a list of pros and cons, gathering more information, weighing the choices, taking into account the consequences, and any other influencing factors that you feel must be considered. At a certain point, things sort themselves out to where you believe you’ve made the best decision you can make under the circumstances.

However, the best possible decision comes from knowing the real issue behind a decision.

Here’s an example from a friend. She had a job where there had been no salary increase in two years, she was asked to do more work to make up for someone who was fired and the customers she interfaced with had become more demanding and rude. These were all good reasons for her to convince herself that quitting this job would be the best decision.

But, what was her real issue? As it turned out she really did like her job, but the real issue was one of emotional pain. As it turned out, no one appreciated her commitment to her job. She felt she was not “valued“. Once she came to understand, being valued was the one thing that was most important to her, the final decision was much easier.

When she was ready to seek a new job, she was able to leverage her interviews by clearly articulating the skills and responsibilities she could bring to an employer that valued its employees.

Decision making may take a little longer, but if you are able to find out what’s the real issue behind the decision, good decision can become a lot easier.