Freedom of Choice: Channeling Superman

April 2016

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"Should I take the offer from Company A, or from Company B?  They’re both dreamy opportunities!"

Every day you have to make decisions, yet perhaps you admit you’ve not perfected the art.  I’m not talking about the lingering remorse that gnaws at you over trivial things like: “I shoulda ordered the steak”, or, “I wish I had not brought that up with my mother/spouse/whomever”.  I’m talking about decision-making that truly matters; decisions that shape your business and career success.  Big decisions.  A recent conversation with a wonderful client of mine motivated me to write about this topic; he is currently wrestling with a decision that will shape the next few years of his career, which of course, could affect his earnings potential, and, more importantly, learning and growth.   It comes down to this: should the take the offer from Company A…or from Company B? 

My counsel to him can be surmised in one simple sentence: you ONLY have a chance at making a good decision IF you remove emotion and bias from the process.  There is NO SHOT at making a good decision unless logic and objective analytics are used to help.   Most of us know this, yet we still struggle with making really good, sound decisions on matters of import.  Why?  Why do we struggle?  There are three reasons - three “syndromes” if you will – that sum-up our stigma.  And they are…
 

1. The “I got this” syndrome.  We think if we survey opinions of our friends and think it over a bit, the answer will be clear.  But it rarely is.  You don’t “got this” until you put pen to paper, or better yet, open a spreadsheet and conduct proper analysis.  TO DO: set up a spreadsheet and start “analyzing”.  List the things you know are true about each of your choices…grade and weight them, and then see how they rank. 
2. The “I’m excited as hell and my heart will lead the way” syndrome.  Another bad idea.  Hearts and “guts” lead us wrong because they appeal to our ego, not our brains.  A strong and accurate decision-making process is a brain exercise, not a heart or gut exercise.   TO DO: on the same sheet you recorded your logic, also write down what appeals to your ego…the glam part of the either choice. And do the same thing to those items as you did under #1, rank them and see how marginalized they become based on your exercise.
3. The “I don’t have a lot of time to make a sound decision” syndrome.  Nonsense.  You have plenty of time.  Replace some bar time or Seinfeld re-runs with homework and a good, motivating process will magically appear.  Look at it this way, you don’t have time to risk making a bad decision.  Big decisions take a lot of due diligence so build that into your calendar and you will be rewarded.  TO DO: after creating your smart, logical spreadsheet, study it.  Then put it away.  Edit or add columns and ranking analytics to your hearts desire.  Play with your inputs.  Then bring it out again and re-read it.  Rinse/repeat.  Edit it.  Run wild with it.  You’ll be surprised how the answers you seek will be presented after committing to these tasks.

 
So what about lingering questions and outliers?  Like…

1. How do friend’s opinions come in to play?  They don’t.  It’s your life, your decision.  While good intentioned, even your best friend doesn’t really know what makes you tick or know what’s best for you.  If you insist on letting them play, then make sure you only assign a limited amount of “credit” to their opinion.  (Reaaally limited.)  Perhaps the best way to utilize the input of your friends is to have them “check” your work and challenge you on assumptions and facts!
2. How do you know if you’ve squeezed enough emotion out of the process? DO all the TO DO things listed above, and you’ll know.
3. What if I miss something?  You probably will.  But the odds of you missing something of substance decrease dramatically if you DO all of the above.
4. What if I end up making the wrong decision?  (Ahhh, you have the courage to ask – certainly the most important question.)  Simply stated, you will make a bad decision here or there.  But you’ll learn fast.  And you’ll find your decision-making ability will improve dramatically when you study the bad decisions.  Remember, bad decisions are only a result of having bad data, or being bad at utilizing the process offered here.​

Good luck.  ​

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