Making Tough Decisions Well And Badly PDF Download

Decision making appears to be a simple activity but the process leading to a decision is quite complex. Unique aspect of decision making is that it is always done in advance but people weigh it in hindsight. Therefore, predicting a decision to be right or wrong at the time of decision making is always as good a guess as is the decision itself. What is required at this stage is to understand the factors that may be impacting the decision maker and then accept or reject the decision being taken then and there.On the contrary, people tend to judge a decision as good or bad after the outcome is known which, in author's view, is not fair to the decision-maker. Success of a decision is not in it being good or bad, right or wrong, but being accepted when it is taken and not after knowing the outcome. Author believes that acceptance of a decision is of far greater significance than the decision itself, as unless accepted, a decision has no relevance.People not only accept or reject decision made by others but also by self. If you thought accepting other's decision is more difficult then think again; you would be surprised that many times accepting own decision is far more difficult. Actually when others make a decision, we can debate it, criticize it, pass on judgment but in almost all cases we forget it after sometime. However, when we make a decision, we consciously or unconsciously, keep deliberating and judging it for a long time. Accepting or rejecting our own decision impacts our behaviour more than when we accept or reject decision made by others and this influences our future actions towards every new situation.An important aspect in the process is segregating decision-maker and decision-acceptor. The acceptor of the decision has to have faith in the decision-maker and be aware of the factors that the decision-maker has taken into consideration while arriving at the decision. When others are taking decision, this is much easier but when one takes decision where he is also a significantly impacted stakeholder of the decision, this becomes really difficult. In fact people tend to swing between the role of a decision-maker and decision-acceptor throughout the process.As a decision-maker, you should only worry about coming out with the most appropriate decision to meet the expected outcome using your knowledge, available information, and other such factors. As a decision-acceptor you should be focused on knowing the decision-maker and various factors that he has used to arrive at the decision. If you are convinced with that, you should accept the decision without really worrying about the outcomeThis book is an attempt to bring in awareness about some key factors that influences decision making so that the stakeholders become better acceptors of a decision while it is being taken irrespective of the outcome. Let us always remember "Decision is just a decision at the time it is made, it is neither good nor bad."