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This week I have been debating with a colleague about logical decision making. In normal situations, most businesses simply do not take enough account of available data to help inform their decisions.  They don’t look at Google search data before choosing their keywords, they don’t understand their balance sheets and instead make decisions based on flawed logic.They ignore information from government agencies about demographic trends & build their stores in areas of falling population. In normal cases, a simple look at the numbers will improve the quality of decision making 100%.

But what happens when the situation is not “normal”?  When you have all of the statistical data in the world and yet raw, messy emotions get in the way of logical decision making?When logic takes a holiday and emotion takes over?

I have seen this in many businesses over the years. Business owners holding onto their first store in a chain of stores, decades beyond when it was no longer profitable – purely for sentimental reasons. Business owners staying firm on price points for their products, ignoring feedback from clients that the items are over-priced, and conversely business owners not charging enough because their self esteem cuts across the data, making them believe that they are worth less than the data says.

I have  seen it in managers who have evidence that one of their team may be bullying or harassing staff – yet try and wave it away as an anomaly.  Other managers who have massive turnover in their team try and blame everyone else but themselves. And managers who hire family or friends who blatantly do not have the skills needed because they feel sympathy for them, and wonder why it all goes pear shaped in a few short weeks.

Decision making is not an exact science. Yes, we should try and gather as much logical data as possible. But when emotions are high, we need to run three “non logical”, emotion based rulers over our decisions.

1) What does our gut tell us about the decision? Is it right for us & the situation we are in right now? Does our gut feel smooth or are butterflies doing backstroke in there? Is our hunch that this will fail or work out?

2) What does our heart tell us about the decision? Does this decision make our heart sing or sink? Does it make our life feel lighter or heavier? Does it match or conflict with our personal values?

3) What are the assumptions we have made about the situation? Are we assuming that sales will magically improve, that our price is correct and feedback is wrong, that we are worthless and not worth more. What are we assuming about the situation – and are those assumptions correct?

Paralysis vs compelled action

Humans then go into flight or fight mode. They either head into flight – feel compelled to act RIGHT NOW, or they go into fight mode – usually fighting the data.

Often when emotions are high, we feel compelled to take immediate action.  Putting in a breathing space (no matter how short), helps to get some perspective back. Go and get a coffee. Talk with a trusted colleague. Sleep on it. They are all useful ways to gain perspective and counter the flight risk.

The other approach people take is delaying – looking for more information to help them decide, or in other words fighting the data they already have. Many people get into decision paralysis – sitting and hoping for the right decision to be written in 50 metre high burning letters in the sky.  If you wait for that degree of certainty, I have to tell you that it will never happen. It is just procrastination under a politically correct guise.

Just make a decision will ya!

The thing with decisions are that they are rarely 100% cut and dried, with no escape clauses.  The people who are successful are those that make decisions that may not be perfect, yet they take considered action taking into account all of the information. Then they track the results of the decision, and if necessary, quickly adjust the rudders to steer the ship in another direction.  It’s always easier to change direction of a moving ship, rather than one tied to the wharf.

Yes, they consider the data from a range of viewpoints and work out ways to mitigate the risks, and strengthen the best points of the decision. They don’t go in blind. They don’t let one factor take precedence over the other factors. They weigh up all of the factors and take the best educated decision that they can.

Decision making when emotions are strong, are messy, complex and raw. After all, humans are not the logical beasts we would like to believe we are.  For logical situations, follow a logical decision making model. For emotion laden decisions, you need to bring in emotion based information.

At least, that’s my view. What do you think? How do you make decisions when logic takes a holiday?

Ingrid Cliff

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Heart Harmony – Freelance writer