Sometimes success is just about avoiding failure.
Avoiding bad decisions is just as important as making good ones. Knowing the warning signs and following these rules will limit your bad-decision making skills. A blog post by Shane Parrish discussed five of the biggest reasons why we make bad decisions :
- We’re unintentionally stupid –
We like to think that we can rationally process information, but we can’t. Instead of explaining why we made a bad decision, we should look out for warning signs that signal when something is about to go wrong. A few warning signs include when you are tired, emotional, in a rush, or distracted.
The rule: Never make important decisions when you’re tired, emotional, distracted, or in a rush
2. We solve the wrong problems –
Warning signs you’re solving the wrong problem:
- You let someone else define the problem for you.
- You’re far away from the problem.
- You’re thinking about the problem at only one level or through a narrow lens
The rule: Never let anyone define the problem for you
3. We use incorrect or insufficient information –
Warning signs you have incorrect or insufficient information:
- You’re speaking to someone who spoke to someone who spoke to someone. Someone will get in trouble when the truth comes out.
- You’re reading about it in the news
The rule: Seek out information from someone as close to the source as possible, because they’ve earned their knowledge and have an understanding that you don’t
4. We fail to learn –
We all make mistakes and go through our own experiences. But to truly learn from these, we must reflect on our reactions and our actions. Reflection is and has to be an important part of your process, and it’s the only way we’ll truly learn in order to make better decisions in the future.
Warning signs you’re not learning:
- You’re too busy to reflect.
- You don’t keep track of your decisions.
- You can’t calibrate your own decision-making.
The rule: Be less busy. Keep a learning journal. Reflect every day
5. We focus on optics over outcomes –
Our involuntary thought progression is to do something that’s easy over what’s right.
Warning signs you’re focused on optics:
- You’re thinking about how you’ll defend your decision.
- You’re knowingly choosing what’s defendable over what’s right.
- You’d make a different decision if you owned the company.
- You catch yourself saying this is what your boss would want.
The rule: Act as you would want an employee to act if you owned the company