07 Aug The Art of Making Quality Decisions Effectively and Promptly

Should You Depend on Emotions, Logic, or Intuition When You Make High-Stake Decisions?

Humans are decision-making machines and are constantly presented with opportunities to make decisions.

We all make dozens, if not hundreds, of decisions daily. For instance, a few seconds ago, you decided to read this post while many had decided to look away.

We all have the opportunity and privilege to make decisions, at least within our prerogative authority.

The questions we should ask include but are not limited to:

1. Are we making quality decisions ethically and promptly?
2. Have we fully benefited from all our decisions?
3. Do our decisions promote or hurt our well-being, relationships, career, business, and/or community?

Almost all of us can make quality decisions if we have all of the following:

• Enough time,
• Counsel, and
• Data we need before making decisions.

Here is the litmus paper. One’s decision-making abilities are challenged when one doesn’t have enough data and time but has to make high-stakes decisions on the spot.

I like Warren Buffett’s infamous remark: “Only when the tide goes out do you learn who has been swimming naked.”

Until someone is squeezed and pressed to make tough decisions, they won’t know whether they’ve been equipped to handle difficult decisions that have dire consequences against them, most importantly, against others.

No wonder why, consciously or unconsciously, the most important quality teams and organizations are looking for before they hire or promote a leader is the ability to make effective decisions promptly.

Regardless of many other leadership qualities, if a leader is incapable of making quality decisions on time, they’re a LAME leader, and no one is interested in having such an incompetent leader.

That is why companies are willing to pay millions every year for CEOs who are known for making high-stakes decisions on the fly.

That said, in this blog, I’d like to focus on the three vehicles leaders may use to make decisions:

1. Emotions.
2. Logic.
3. Intuition.

Whenever I facilitate a workshop or webinar on Decision-Making, one theme resurfaces repeatedly, including the one I recently had in San Antonio, TX (see pics): How do I decide whether to depend on emotions, logic, or intuition when I make decisions?

Some leaders make decisions predominantly logically, while others emotionally, intuitionally, or a combination of these.

• What about you?
• How do you make decisions?
• Which vehicle dominates your decision-making? Why?

Remember, some people may not know consciously which decision-making vehicle (s) they predominantly use as they make decisions.

Effective leaders consciously know which vehicle they should use depending on the following:

• The problem/challenge they’re trying to address.
• The scope of the decision.
• Who will be involved and impacted?
• The availability of data, counseling, and time.

Here are a few facts:

1. Those who make decisions emotionally tend to regret them once the emotions subside. We become vulnerable to making decisions emotionally when we’re angry, tired, irritated, or have not gotten enough sleep.
2. Beginner decision-makers heavily rely on logic. Most of them use a framework to make decisions logically. Of course, they don’t need to use a framework after a while. However, it is a good initial step. Some beginner leaders may also engage in group decision-making to make quality decisions for which they may not have experience. Using a framework and group decision-making is very helpful for many reasons, one of which is to overcome biases such as confirmation, affinity, recency, vividness, etc.
3. Senior leaders count on their guts, especially when they don’t have enough time or readily available counsel and data to follow logic.

San Antonio outside of my hotel room windows…

You may agree that we shouldn’t fully trust our emotions when making decisions, especially those that invoke intense emotions. We should either use logic or intuition.

I frequently get some follow-up questions: “Okay, AZ, you want me to use either logic or intuition, not emotions.” But:

• “When should I depend on logic rather than intuition and vice versa?
• How do I develop intuition?”

How would you have answered these questions? I don’t know your answers. Hopefully, our answers are aligned.

Let me share mine:

I. If you have time and data, use LOGIC. Unfortunately, you may not always get all the data and enough time to sort things out, think, and brainstorm with others. You should have a guideline to determine how much data you need before pulling the trigger and making decisions.

I found the wisdom of former Secretary of State and four-star General Colin Powell helpful. He has a 40/70 RULE. Powell explained: “Never make a decision with less than 40% of the information available, and don’t gather more than 70% of the information available. Anything less than 40% and you’re just guessing, anything more than 70% and you’re delaying.”

• Making decisions with less than 40% data is equivalent to playing Russian Roulette. You’re gambling and potentially making a disastrous decision.
• You may become overwhelmed if you delay your decision to gather more data. You may even make wrong decisions because of information overload.

II. If you don’t have time and data, rely on your INTUITION. Senior leaders don’t resort to gut-feeling decision-making if their people have data and expertise. They delegate decision-making. They use intuition when there is a vacuum and when their people push upward critical decisions for which they don’t have the confidence to make.

The more leaders advance, the more they make tough and consequential decisions relying on gut feeling. The founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, once said, “I believe in the power of wandering. All of my best decisions in business and in life have been made with heart, intuition, guts, not analysis.”

Of course, using one’s gut feeling as a source of decision-making doesn’t mean the leader wings it based on some unrecognized voice within. Only naive leaders heed such a novice inner voice.

Experienced leaders have already trained themselves to listen to their intelligent selves within, using the vast virtual built-in database built for years.

Many people think intuition is a gift, and therefore, they don’t do anything to develop their gut feelings if they believe they’re not gifted.

If you ask leaders who make decisions employing their instinct, they understand that it came from experience.

Some years back, a multimillion-dollar piece of art in NY was on sale. An art fan interested in buying the art sought the advice of an experienced broker. Without wasting time, the experienced broker immediately declared that the art was fake!

The buyer was expecting an elaborate investigation and analysis.

Disappointed, he hired another broker to conduct a thorough investigation. The new broker dedicated a few team members, took weeks, and invested tons of money in the investigation. His team concluded that the art was real!

Guess what? The on-sale art was FAKE!!!

The moral of the story is that experienced leaders in their respective fields can make decisions within seconds, even if they may not have enough data, because they tap into their intuition.

Though it is outside the scope of this blog, many leaders use meditation and other mind-control techniques to tap into the universal mind. Rather than relying on their own experience and observation alone, they download instant ideas, revelations, and insights for which they have no experience.

If you want to equip your leaders to solve problems and promptly make quality decisions, reach out. We can custom design an interactive webinar or workshop based on the latest adult learning principles.

Participants will gain:

• The latest insights about problem-solving and decision-making.
• Practical models that empower them to be effective problem solvers and decision-makers.
• Case studies and stories.
• Approaches, strategies, and tactics that allow them to make quality and ethical decisions promptly.

Contact our team via [email protected] if you’re in Florida and [email protected] if you’re in the DMV area.

Looking forward to working with you…