DECISION MAKING

Too many people try to make decisions when they lack the critical data with which to do it. Decisions can be made rapidly when the reasons, pros and cons and consequences of it are clearly understood and factored into the predictable outcome. Blink a book by Malcolm Gladwell. who also wrote The Tipping Point, is described by its author as: "It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions. Well, "Blink" is a book about those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good."

"You could also say that it's a book about intuition, except that I don't like that word. In fact it never appears in "Blink." Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings--thoughts and impressions that don't seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational. It's thinking--its just thinking that moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with "thinking." In "Blink" I'm trying to understand those two seconds. What is going on inside our heads when we engage in rapid cognition? When are snap judgments good and when are they not? What kinds of things can we do to make our powers of rapid cognition better?"

Quoting Dragnet's Sgt. Friday I'd add that decision making is about rapidly going through a set of internal criteria and making a judgment. It is said that information speeds from one hemisphere to another faster in women's brains. There are theories around this in terms of possible evolution because of the need to protect their children. Who knows? If that is so, there are still lots of women who just can't seem to make their minds up. This suggests another interference from making the decision. It might be 'Whom will I displease?' or, 'If I hold back, a better offer might come along.' There are others who procrastinate in decision making because of their own denial. 'What you don't know, you don't have to deal with.' 'Put it off definitely and people will forget about it', or, 'If I wait long enough, someone else will have taken care of it'.

The saying, 'Those who hesitate are lost.' should not come as news to anyone of this generation. Many great opportunities are missed in life by this avoidance of decision making and procrastination in snapping onto opportunities. In 1982, Johnny Rutherford won the Indianapolis 500. Someone suggested that he was lucky. His comment was, "Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet." Our youth has not had the good fortune of excellent education that generations before had available. We are 25th in a 30 nation evaluation, it was reported on the Tim Russert show, 4/27.

However, lest someone thinks that one must always make a hasty decision, one must be aware the decision must be hasty and well-thought out. It is also as imperative that correct decisions be made. Sometimes that is as difficult to do as deciding which fork of the road to take when both are unfamiliar as to where they will lead.