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| Clarify Your Choices |
Clarify Your Choices
The first step in the decision-making process is to clarify what your choices are. This involves gathering the pertinent information, arranging that information so that similar features in the choices can be easily compared, and then summarizing the options that are available with each choice.
The next step is to analyze each choice to consider all the potential consequences. Once the costs and benefits of each available choice are clearly defined, the decisionmaking process is greatly simplified.
Benefits
What is a benefit? A benefit could be a gain in physical resources, financial resources, social status, or future opportunities. A benefit could represent enhanced chances of survival for yourself, your family, or your nation. A benefit could be enhanced comfort, increased personal power, or decreased workload.
In most situations, each of the possible choices that you can make has some associated benefits; otherwise there is no point in making it a choice. Some benefits associated with a choice are obvious; some are more obscure; some may require reasonable predictions of events in the future. Some benefits occur almost immediately; some may not occur unless other favourable events also occur. There can be major benefits, secondary benefits, and deferred benefits associated with any choice
The benefit of a choice may be that it has the least negative consequences.
Costs
In most situations, each of your possible choices also has some associated costs. Some costs are obvious; some are hidden; some may require reasonable predictions of events in the future. Some costs may occur almost immediately; some may never occur unless other unfavourable events occur as well. There can be major costs, secondary costs, and deferred costs associated with any choice.
The failure to recognize all the costs, especially ‘hidden’ costs is one of the commonest sources of difficulty in decision-making. Sometimes hidden costs are simply overlooked; sometimes they are ignored or deliberately hidden to bias the decision-making process.
Money, time, and physical energy are obvious costs. Lost purchasing power, psychic wear and tear, damage to the environment, and social repercussions are some of the costs that tend to be ignored.
Other factors
There are a few other factors that should also be considered before making a choice.
Can a decision be reversed? If it could be reversed, what would be the cost? What would be the cost of not making a particular decision? What is the cost of not making any decision? What is the cost of delaying a decision? Is a particular choice guaranteed? Are any of the choices ‘win-win’? Are there other choices that have yet to be considered?
Suppose you plan to purchase a new car this year. There are literally thousands of makes, models, and options to choose from. It is a challenging task to collect and compare all the available information. The Canadian Automobile Association (www.caa.ca) provides some information on costs that allows you to begin comparing the expenses associated with different vehicles. The safety ratings of automobiles can be checked at www.safecar.gov. As you gather more specific information for side-byside comparisons, it becomes easier to make a reasoned decision.
The first step in the decision-making process is to clarify what your choices are. This involves gathering the pertinent information, arranging that information so that similar features in the choices can be easily compared, and then summarizing the options that are available with each choice.
The next step is to analyze each choice to consider all the potential consequences. Once the costs and benefits of each available choice are clearly defined, the decisionmaking process is greatly simplified.
Benefits
What is a benefit? A benefit could be a gain in physical resources, financial resources, social status, or future opportunities. A benefit could represent enhanced chances of survival for yourself, your family, or your nation. A benefit could be enhanced comfort, increased personal power, or decreased workload.
In most situations, each of the possible choices that you can make has some associated benefits; otherwise there is no point in making it a choice. Some benefits associated with a choice are obvious; some are more obscure; some may require reasonable predictions of events in the future. Some benefits occur almost immediately; some may not occur unless other favourable events also occur. There can be major benefits, secondary benefits, and deferred benefits associated with any choice
The benefit of a choice may be that it has the least negative consequences.
Costs
In most situations, each of your possible choices also has some associated costs. Some costs are obvious; some are hidden; some may require reasonable predictions of events in the future. Some costs may occur almost immediately; some may never occur unless other unfavourable events occur as well. There can be major costs, secondary costs, and deferred costs associated with any choice.
The failure to recognize all the costs, especially ‘hidden’ costs is one of the commonest sources of difficulty in decision-making. Sometimes hidden costs are simply overlooked; sometimes they are ignored or deliberately hidden to bias the decision-making process.
Money, time, and physical energy are obvious costs. Lost purchasing power, psychic wear and tear, damage to the environment, and social repercussions are some of the costs that tend to be ignored.
Other factors
There are a few other factors that should also be considered before making a choice.
Can a decision be reversed? If it could be reversed, what would be the cost? What would be the cost of not making a particular decision? What is the cost of not making any decision? What is the cost of delaying a decision? Is a particular choice guaranteed? Are any of the choices ‘win-win’? Are there other choices that have yet to be considered?
Suppose you plan to purchase a new car this year. There are literally thousands of makes, models, and options to choose from. It is a challenging task to collect and compare all the available information. The Canadian Automobile Association (www.caa.ca) provides some information on costs that allows you to begin comparing the expenses associated with different vehicles. The safety ratings of automobiles can be checked at www.safecar.gov. As you gather more specific information for side-byside comparisons, it becomes easier to make a reasoned decision.
