Decision making - based on Human Thinking
Change is a concept relative to Time. We are constantly reminded by our surroundings that change is the only constant. Just like our feelings. Knowledge gathered over long periods is stored in our memory and influences how we feel. And that, Need is the sole generator of plans for a changing future. To adapt to any change we need a thorough understanding of the human nature.
All humans and organizations have to deal with change as it helps us in evolving for a strategically advanced version of today - Tomorrow. There are various tools and techniques to evaluate strengths and weakness and more are being built as we speak. Technology in today’s world has made it so simple to produce more than what we could achieve. The vast information is now available at our palm, and was never heard or imagined by our predecessors. This is a cultural change and a deep distinction in our generations. For this very reason, organizations need to change their dimension of thinking to keep up with the pace of the world. Human nature plays a vital role and hence we as project managers cannot use age old theories to manage projects any more. Success is no more a game of hits and losses.
For any decision to be taken, the three legs of the new thinking tripod have to be consulted. Decision making depends on all three factors and to what quantity they are used.
- Emotion – Feelings, thoughts, moods, styles, etc
- Desire to need – A feeling of non – sustenance if missing out
- Knowledge – Information of & about
Peggy Thoits described emotions as involving physiological components, cultural or emotional labels (e.g., anger, surprise etc.), expressive body actions, and the appraisal of situations and contexts. Emotion is often associated and considered reciprocally influential with mood, temperament, personality,disposition and motivation.
Desire or Need is a very complex relation. The most widely known academic model of needs was proposed by psychologist Abraham Maslow. In his theory, he proposed that people have a hierarchy of psychological needs, which range from security to self-actualization. This is however dependent on various other factors, as one person’s needs can be perceived differently by others.
Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering or learning. It is this knowledge that acts as logic between the need and the emotion and gives an outcome regardless of the two.
A person analysing the situation for acting upon or making a decision, must always have a need for it, fuelled by the knowledge and understanding, which has to be justified by the emotion, solely to find success or negate loss.
At the junction of these variables can a decision be taken, and we do it often in our daily lives, even without realizing it. Professionally this happens so often that it drives the change successfully. Just knowing how the decision was arrived upon is not relevant, but applying the knowledge leads to career success. As project managers we should be aware of this and attempt to achieve the positive decision making ability.
A positive approach to decision making as a project manager would increase the team morale and create a high respect for the project. A synergy is created by encouraging positive actions which only grow larger than the smaller inputs.
As a leader and a team player we must understand to utilize all resources to their fullest to complete the given task at hand. The days of just providing direction are a passé. Equal amount of motivation, encouragement and team spirit are required to achieve the set goals. Our assignments are time bound and so are our leaderships.
In today’s highly competitive world, change continues to challenge us in form of variety of projects. For project managers, positive decision making depends greatly on three legs of new thinking tripod. Accepting and analysing positive decision making will enable us to hit the bull’s eye and only then will the team be seen as One.
