How is Your Decision Making Style Working For You?

Here’s a mini-questionnaire for you:

Question 1
1a) Do you find it difficult to make decisions without first consulting others for their opinions?

Or

1b) Do you ‘just know’ when you are making the right decision?

Question 2
2a) Do you find that you are easily swayed by other people and readily change your mind when they disagree with you?

Or

2b) Do you accept that other people have different opinions to you and know that you don’t need to agree with their views?

If you answered (a) to both questions this implies that you have an ‘external’ perspective, meaning that you rely on external feedback before feeling comfortable reaching a decision.

If you answered (b) to both questions you are more ‘internal’ i.e. you look inside yourself to find your solutions and answers.

Both perspectives have benefits and costs.

Overly Internal People…
…can become regarded as arrogant, with no desire to listen to any alternative viewpoint.
On the plus side, they can reach decisions quickly and can be useful in a crisis when a decision just has to be made.

Overly External People…
…can take forever to get anything done and undermine their own authority if they seem unsure.
On the plus side, by gaining multiple perspectives, they can arguably end up with a more robust solution that also has greater support from other people.

Here are some tips if you’re overly ‘internal’ in your decision making:

1. Being too quick to reach a decision can mean crucial detail and risk assessment have been missed. A good decision will always be more highly regarded than a swift one.

2. Listen – actively – to other people and hear alternative viewpoints. Be open to the idea that other people can add a lot of value and greater weight to your own ideas. And remember always, you could both be ‘right’. 🙂

Here are some tips if you’re overly ‘external’ in your decision making:

1. Know why you have chosen a particular option without feeling the need to justify it.

2. Be prepared to make a decision without having total certainty. It is impossible to foresee the future or to have all the data. Gaining input from others is excellent but in the end, you have to go with your best guess based on what you have.

Whichever path you take, in the end it is important for your credibility to be decisive and then work with the results of your decision.