A decision is the action of choosing between alternatives or ways to solve different life situations, at work, family, sentimental, business, etc., that is, at all times decisions are made; deciding is something that all people do naturally in different situations, it seems to be an action of the simplest and simplest to do; However, many people face the inability to make their own decisions, the cause is not the lack of reason but the lack of resolution and courage to have determination and lose the fear of facing such actions that make us choose a path, at a certain time; This action is called decidophobia, that is, the fear of making wrong decisions.
Good decision making allows us to live better, gives us control over our lives and away from the frustrations of not knowing how to decide, otherwise, as Harry Truman said: “Every bad decision I make is followed by another bad decision That is, it comprises a series of steps, which begins with the creation of goals and continues with the identification of problems and alternative courses of action; It does not end until the decision is actually made or the election is made, or until the anxieties after the decision have been experienced, and if we were wrong from the beginning of the election it will not have been worth the effort applied.
Decision making is an important management function at all points in our lives and in all administration processes.
FEAR OF MAKING DECISIONS?
It is a new type of fear, called decidophobia, revealed by Walter Kaufmann in 1973, who uses neologism to replace "the fear of autonomy."
Long decisions increase the commitment to implement them. There is a big difference between making a decision and implementing it.
A decision usually consists of three stages:
- The recognition of a need: feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself; feeling of emptiness or need The decision to change, to fill the gap or need; Conscious dedication to implement the decision.
There are different types of phobias, a phobia is the fear of facing somethingIn this case, decidophobia is the fear of making decisions, more than anything to be wrong when a decision has already been made, it is that distrust of deciding on a certain situation; it is there where we have to make use of our emotional abilities and capacities, we need to be well with ourselves, to be able to be well with the rest, with what is around us, to be competent before various realities that we will have to face, not to stop anymore that to carefully analyze each of the factors to be taken into account, somehow anticipate what we will do in the event that something unusual occurs, and that of course we will have the necessary availability to face the difficulties that arise.
It must be taken into account that the ideas between what we want to do, regarding what we should do, must go hand in hand, one idea without the other cannot be conceived, if you want to obtain a good result.
Sometimes it is difficult to decide to do something, even a small change, perhaps not very significant, but even so it is difficult for us to decide, and to a certain extent it is logical, as a reaction is known to any action, be the decision that is always taken There will be good or bad consequences, which must be faced later, perhaps that is the greatest fear of making the decision, making mistakes and not being able to rectify what we have done wrong, obtain negative results, and make another decision again, without having sufficient security of what we want to do and especially if it is the right thing to do.
Sometimes they are unimportant decisions, like everyday things and others can even change our lives, such as getting married or divorced, staying in a well-paid job, but that we do not like or looking for another one at a time when there is a lot of unemployment, etc.
In times of crisis, our decision-making problems may increase. Our emotions influence decision making and stress, anguish, depression, etc., can make us indecisive or make us make bad decisions. Often, we find it difficult to decide, because we do not want to take responsibility for the choice to the consequences or to lose the other possibilities.
Regarding the labor situation, sometimes we are faced with a dilemma, how to react at some point; you have to be capable enough to realize which attitude is the most suitable for the moment. It is necessary to mention, that in order to decide at work, we must also have a certain faculty to say this I will do and thus resolve what is presented to us, up to where our authority is to determine something and thus make the decision.
In a very particular way, decidophobia has affected some work situations that have arisen, a clear example is the fact of not yet deciding whether I should leave my current job for a better paid one, but part of this is due to economic stability. that my work provides me, the fact that I know that on a certain date there is a secure income, benefits according to the law, schedules that allow me to carry out other activities and some more advantages that my job generates and that at the moment I do not think I can find elsewhere.
Within my professional functions, this fear, called decophobia, has not been of great importance, since when it is worth choosing or making a decision and due to the faculties that have been attributed to me, it has been carried out with positive consequences, and they are not stopped doing certain things, due to the fact that the superiors are not found, at least as far as simple situations are concerned and as far as possible. I consider it pertinent to mention that the fact of acting in a timely manner allows adequate attention to be given to the people who come to these offices, as well as helping to combat bureaucracy, which is sometimes the greatest defect in government institutions.
HOW TO AVOID MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS?
In History, written in 450 BC, the Greek historian and geographer Herodotus says the following:
“If an important decision is to be made, they discuss the matter when they are drunk and the next day the head of the house… presents the decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision made while in sobriety is reconsidered later when they are drunk. "
The above, is a strange way of making decisions, it could seem that it is done even without any interest, hardly at present we would dare to do something similar, since the state of drunkenness is not the best thing to make a decision and even more that what is being decided is totally fine, but even so, there are different ways of carrying out decision-making, which many people turn to, and leave these “ways” the freedom to decide, because they trust that more., that in the ability to analyze and make the decision on their own:
Someone or even something: Some examples are astrology, hand reading, stargazing, 1-900 dialing, reflexology (feet), iridiology (eyes), telepathy, numerology, etc. All these disciplines ending in -logy, Greek for "word," are objects of worship.
Thinking: encompasses ordered and disordered mental activities, and describes the cognitions that take place during choice, problem solving, originality, creativity, fantasy, and dreams. As the mathematician, theoretical scientist and philosopher of science Henri Poincare said, “Doubt everything or create everything: they are two equally convenient strategies. With any of them, we eliminate the need to think for ourselves.
Drop anchor: Give disproportionate weight to some information, instead of waiting as long as possible to have all the information.
Be aware of sunk costs: Repeat the same decision because "you have invested so much in this approach (or in your current job) that you cannot quit or make another decision (or seek a better position)."
Inability to reflect on the problem: Some managers sometimes resist reflecting before acting, because reflection takes too much time, too much work, and they don't know too much about the problem / decision opportunity.
Look for confirmatory evidence: Look for the information that supports the existing previous choice and discard the one that opposes.
Being overconfident: This makes you feel optimistic and then make high-risk decisions.
Be too cautious: Be overly curious for so long as to delay the decision.
Burden to another with the responsibility: To delegate to another the responsibility to make the decision. Do not make decisions for yourself. Get someone to blame if things don't go well.
Surrender to failure: Believe that the choices you will make are predestined and that you will surely fail (one gets used to failure).
Create a commission: To make a decision, create a commission, not necessarily an expert one. In this way, if everything goes well, all members will be proud. But if everything goes wrong, no one is responsible.
False decentralization: When an authoritarian manager delegates responsibilities to a new "director of…" for each new decision problem, but without delegating any authority.
Bad definition of the problem: It leads to the wrong solution. When the problem is not known, any solution is wrong. When the problem is known, the solution may be correct.
Misunderstanding of the problem: It occurs due to subjectivity, irrational analysis, delay or delay, lack of sensitivity and lack of focus.
Complexity confuses the decision maker: Simplify and even modify the problem to make it something you have a strategic solution for (this is done by IO / CA analysts when they modify the model until it fits into their strategic solution algorithm).
Rationalization to limit courses of action: This strategy is very popular. Take over the deck of cards to make an alternative appear clearly correct and eliminate all risks.
Information: The information collected is not valid. Decisions are usually made first and then information is sought to support the solution, otherwise much of the information collected is irrelevant to decision-making.
The decision is only symbolic: You fight a lot to get a policy and then you are indifferent to its implementation.
The decision maker has obligations: In some cases, the decision makers act without integrity to fulfill some important personal obligations.
It is best to decline responsibilities: Stagnating or doing nothing is another possibility.
Some people do this because they believe that the correct strategic solution will ultimately be obvious.
Post-decision anxieties: The more convenient the alternatives to reject and the faster the decision must be made, the greater the anxieties (also known as cognitive dissonance).
There is a second group of reasons that are used in the same way to avoid decision making, they are legitimate and valid. These include depression and other mental illnesses (which impair decision-making functions), coercion, and brainwashing:
Times when important decisions should not be made: There are situations when important decisions should not be made. An example could be that a person who occupies an executive position within a company suffers from depression, which is a mental illness. This person should not make important decisions-which could be costly for the company.
Coercive decision making: these are mind control tactics that are part of a brainwashing practice, the purpose of which is to greatly modify a person's concept of himself, perception of reality and interpersonal relationships.
When successful, they influence the victim's independent and rational ability to make decisions. Brainwashing is a very complex process that consists of two stages:
- One is Conditioning and is used to control the victim's mind; for example, inducing manipulative guilt, covert fear, intimidation, mental and moral confusion, making confessions of crimes not committed, and political propaganda. The other is Persuasion to cause the inability to think independently, for example, implanting suggestive impulses into the victim's mind.
In some way we are also used to the techniques used in advertising campaigns, to influence purchasing behavior, because we allow ourselves to be induced by what a person says in a certain commercial, and possibly what he tells us is so false, that Perhaps the product you are offering has not even worked, but nevertheless, it is so easy to let ourselves be convinced by the marketing and advertising, that we choose to follow the advice that they provide us with, although it is not always going to make a profit On the contrary, it can be expensive for our pocket, and even frustrating for not achieving the idealized result.
Solving one problem by creating another: This strategy aims to get rid of a current problem with the unfortunate consequence of creating a new one.
LEARN TO MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS
We have to dare a little more, and not leave the answers to our decisive questions to chance, only facing situations, we can convince ourselves of what we are doing, it is not possible to let a group of fortune tellers decide for us, much less hide ourselves under excuses or pretexts, since the results will mainly benefit or harm us, and far from finding a solution to this situation, say family or business, we will find ourselves with a bigger problem that needs another decision-making, from which we can hardly escape, and perhaps it is a little more difficult, than the previous one.
Unlike the strategies mentioned above, it is possible to learn to make sound decisions, this through strategic decisions through the practice of deciding:
Decision problems or decision opportunities: In some situations, the correct attitude of decision-makers should be to see problems as a way to take advantage of opportunities and not simply to solve them.
Advantages and disadvantages and interesting implications method: Most of your decisions can be made based on previous experiences, a little analysis and common sense. But when you face problems in which a wrong decision could have negative long-term effects and lead to serious mistakes and failures, sometimes small decisions become important.
Subjective and objective decision-making: Subjective ones encompass private decisions, considering strengths and weaknesses, their opportunities and threats. In the objective, which includes making decisions that are absolutely non-emotional, that are public, they need you to "get out of yourself" so as not to involve your emotions.
Self-esteem is an important factor in making good decisions. There are people who have low self-esteem, anyone can easily press them to do anything, it is easy to tell them what to do because they do not have their own decision, they do not think for themselves, they need help from others, and they even leave decide to others, even in very personal situations, and accept what other people want, even when they do not agree with what they are going to do, but it is easier for them to leave the decision and the responsibility for it to others This happens because they do not have the strength and the courage to listen to their own thoughts and of course to make the decision themselves.
It is vitally important to believe in us, in our values and principles, and above all to defend them, learn to value ourselves and give the necessary importance to each of the decisions that define various situations throughout our lives.
KEY FACTORS FOR DECISION MAKING
- The scale of values: guidelines in the person, the value judgments that influence the analysis of the problem and the choice of alternatives. Take risks: avoid unpleasant surprises in achieving objectives. Willingness to execute the chosen alternative: success the decision making it is in action: details, steps, order, people involved, etc. Creative thinking: imagination, inventiveness, help in the development and choice of the decision-making process. Responsibility for consequences: it is to respond for our actions, be positive or Negatives: Be persistent: even more with the decision made, no changes will be made. Overcome decidophobia: letting things continue as they are: no growth, no progress, no successes. Encourage cooperation: everyone should participate in the development of the decision. Ethics: analyzing the good and the bad in the means and the end of decision making.
CONCLUSION
Decision making is essential for any human activity, whether personal or work, in this sense, we all have the capacity to carry it out, for some people more than others this situation becomes difficult, many times it is not so simple, being responsible for the choice and sometimes even blaming others when things do not turn out the way they would have liked, it is difficult to reflect on the problem and too much weight is attributed to a certain portion of the information, the simple fact of choosing something and leaving the rest behind, causes a feeling of uncertainty and fear of being wrong, taking into account that the choice will change the landscape of what comes later once the decision has been made.
We must think very carefully about the possible consequences that this will have, we must dedicate enough time to making this decision, not act on impulse and verify that everything that is done afterwards is not going to be a mistake, and in that case that the right decision has not been made, it is never too much to correct the mistake and make a new decision; As it is well known, the advice of others helps a great deal to be correct in making a good decision, it is very effective to consider the idea of the other and likewise listen to other points of view, but the decision is only made by us, it must be taken the complete security of what is done, that will give us greater peace of mind knowing that we are doing the right thing.
Good decisions are decisive for our life, because our emotional stability depends largely on the good or bad decisions we make.
Bibliography
www.investigacion-operaciones.com/conceptos_modelos.htm
www.revistainterforum.com/revistas/041502News74.htm
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Poincar%C3%A9
http: / /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought
www.authorstream.com/Presentation/javier.mejia-73383-tomador-de-decisiones-eficaz-arge-al-jessica-presentaci-toma-decisi-education-ppt-powerpoint/
http: // home. ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/opre640S/Spanish.htm.
