Fundamentals Of Decision Making

                                               what is Decision making

Decision making is choosing from available alternative a course of action.

This act is done in nearly every human activity/interaction.

Emotions and logic move in opposite direction. When emotions go up, logic comes down and when logic goes down, emotions come up.

Emotions tend to cloud ones  judgment so in decision making, it is important that logic should take the lead.

In problem solving, context is very important as that is what will help you frame the problem appropriately.

Take these steps to solve problems:

• Understand the context; without context, you cant get the circumstances that form the events setting.
• Identify the problem; drill down and identify what the problem really is
• Identify the objective; in here, you are to specify the exact objective and narrow the view
• Identify the alternatives to meeting the objective
• Determine your decision criteria; using the wrong criteria makes you end up with the wrong decision.
• Analyze the alternatives using the decision criteria ; all the alternatives you have, you need to place them next to your chosen decision criteria to see how they fit.
• Make a decision
• Create an action plan
• DO IT;

In decision making especially in business decision, there are a number of things that can determine the output or end result of  your decision.

They are called competition.

Types of competition;

1. Zero sum; in here there is only one winner, the other party loses. Its either 1 or zero
2. Positive sum; most common in business. Both parties can win.

A competitive advantage is important but you need to understand your advantage so you will be able to effectively put it to work.

To build a strategy, consider the following;

1. You need a goal
2. Understand your opponent well; learn his strength and weakness
3. Understand your own strength and competencies
4. Understand the competitive landscape.

The competitive advantage you have should be non-substitutable and inimitable .

Remember the decision you make is purely dependent on the information available to you and your use of those information.

In making decisions, there are some traps called psychological traps that can trump decision making;

1. Framing trap ; this occurs when we wrongly state a problem . doing this will undermine the decision process
2. Confirmation of bias ; this is when one makes decision based on existing beliefs. Allowing your current existing beliefs affect the decision you take
3. Anchoring trap; this usually happens in group decision when the presumed leader positions one decision first and hooks it on the other participants thereby making this projected decision seem like the likely one.