In our efforts to increase productivity and hence be more successful, there is one thing that remains relatively ignored: the quality of our decision-making. Upgrading your decisions implies a shift of focus from simply choosing good over bad, to a focus on choices that lie between good, better, and best. This blog will help you to explore the power of upgrading your decisions and share with you ways to make such decisions day in and out for a better tomorrow in business and life.
The Power of Up-Grading Your Decisions
Upgrading your decisions at the core is a mindset shift. Instead of wasting your time weighing good versus bad choices, you eliminate bad choices up front. That now leaves you focusing on only good, better, and best choices. The logic here is pretty simple: by refusing to entertain decisions that could lead to undesirable outcomes, you're automatically raising the quality of your decision-making process.
Imagine you are having to make a decision regarding a possible business partnership. A passive approach would be to think about the pros versus the cons of the relationship with that partner. On the other hand, an upgraded version of the approach would be to remove the partnership if it even gives a hint of bad consequences, and instead, choose between the best possible partnerships which sets you on a long-term positive trajectory.
One challenge faced when upgrading your decisions is the need to exercise patience. Most decisions that need to be made in business and life come with some sense of urgency. The pressure to act puts you at risk of making decisions that go against your best interests in a move to hastily comply with action. Upgrading your decisions calls for discipline in delaying action at times, maybe up to the point where you will have the time to deliberate on the evidence available concerning all options.
Scenario to Consider: Say you're thinking of coming out with a new product. Instead of hurtling to market because competitors are, you stand back. You've considered immediate financial gains not only for today but also for the mark it will make in the long term on your brand, customer trust, and market position. With patience, you can realize that a different time or way to launch may be more effective at securing success while minimizing risks.
Evaluate Decisions Across Multiple Factors
Another key aspect of the process around upgrading your decisions is making decisions based on multiple factors before a decision is made. Most decisions are made based on a singular factor—for example, potential profit—without considering customer satisfaction, long-term brand impact, or sustainability of the decision.
Holistic Decision-Making: For instance, take the question of whether or not to promote a certain product. Do not just look at the possible revenue accruable from such promotion. Check how it aligns with your brand values, strengthens the relationship with partners, and enhances the trust of your customer base. That way, you will pick the alternative that comes with maximum holistic benefits.
Implementing the Pareto Principle into Your Decisions
The Pareto Principle, more popularly known as the 80/20 rule, is a great way to boost your decision-making. This principle basically states that 20% of your decisions have the potential to yield you 80% of your results. If you really focus on these few high-impact decisions, then productivity and efficiency will be maximized.
Maximize Impact: If you are running a team and have to make a call on the resource allocation plan for your project, instead of reaching an equilibrium in the distribution of resources across all tasks, you tease out important tasks that will drive the most progress toward realization of your goal. You achieve better results with less effort by putting resources into high-impact areas.
Take into account the Consequences of the Future
Every choice you make can potentially reciprocate over time, and if upgrading your choices you will need to become future-oriented. Essentially, what today's decisions will mean to the business or life over the long term will need to be taken into account. Will this decision move me closer towards the achievement of my long-term vision? Does it better position me for future opportunities?
Look Forward: Suppose somebody offers you a lucrative business deal that will give you instant money. However, to strike the deal, you will have to compromise on some of the real values of your business. You may feel tempted by the short-term money you are about to receive, but thinking in the long run you may decline the deal to safeguard the image of your brand and concerned about breaking the trust of the customers whom you have established with honesty and integrity.
Conclusion: The Path to Better Decision-Making
Upgrading your decisions is the critical factor in this outer game of productivity and success. Making decisions that eliminate bad decisions, remembering to be patient, taking into consideration a number of factors, using the Pareto Rule, and thinking through the future consequences—these in some way enable you to make decisions that will almost always result in the best outcome.
The time to act is now. Now, look at the decisions that confront you today, business or personal, and apply these principles to each. Start with weeding out those options that might not provide you with your best outcome and limit the hole between the good, the better, and the best. Because of making better decisions, you will find yourself treading a more specific way to success, winning the outer game.
Remember, every decision you make is one toward your future. Make each one count.
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