How to make difficult decisions?: 8 recommendations

The act of making decisions is inherent to our human condition, from the moment we get up until we go to bed, we are opening and closing flows. Our life passes between one election and another. Living is a continuous decision. But why does making a decision sometimes become such a complicated process?

The fear of making a bad decision is one of the most powerful paralyzing agents. The fear of failure or the anxiety of uncertainty can greatly delay our decision over time. So can perfectionism or dependence on the judgment of others. What can we do to avoid being frozen by the overwhelming circumstances?

8 strategies for making decisions

There are many strategies for making a difficult decision. Among them is the PROACT method, proposed by Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa (2003). PROACT is a tool designed to help us assess the tangible and intangible components of the situation.. In addition, it includes facts, feelings, opinions and beliefs in decision making.

In itself, this method does not directly return us the best option, but rather allows us to obtain an enriched version of what is happening, thus increasing our probability of getting it right: What it does is manage that complexity in a more reasonable way. Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa (2003) have found that the most difficult decisions can be analyzed and resolved considering eight steps.

The first five are: Problems, Objectives, Alternatives, Consequences and Transactions. These are the central axis of the method and can be applied to any situation. The remaining three (uncertainty, risk tolerance and linked decisions) contribute to clarifying decisions in volatile environments, so they are not applicable to all decisions, although they are applicable to many of the most important ones.

1. The problem

The way you define the problem limits the decision, determines the alternatives to be considered and the way in which these will be evaluated. Therefore, posing the problem well is necessary to drive the entire process.

The greatest danger in formulating a problem is laziness. Looking for what is simple or letting yourself be carried away by the first thing that comes to mind is not the best thing to do. The easy way is not necessarily the best way.

To define the problem, take into account the following recommendations:

Ask yourself what triggered this decision, that is, why you are considering it. Question the limitations in your approach to the problem. Identify the essential elements of the problem. Recognize that other decisions depend on or affect this one. Look for what other decisions can do. part of it or which can be derived from it.

2. Goals

Every decision you make should bring you closer to your goals. The decision is the means you use to reach an end. When you have to make difficult decisions, ask yourself: what do I want to achieve by making this decision? What are my interests? Which of my values, fears, worries, fears and aspirations are most relevant to achieving that goal?

Think very carefully about your objectives, because they are what will give you direction along the way. To identify them, follow the following steps:

Write down what you hope to solve with your decision. Turn your concerns into concrete objectives. Separate the means from the ends when formulating your objectives. Clarify what each objective means. Test the objectives to see if they capture your interests.

3. The alternatives

Each alternative is a path to reach the objective. They determine different lines of behavior, among which you must choose the one that best suits what you want to achieve. Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa (2003) maintain that it is important to keep the following in mind at all times: that you can never choose an alternative that has not been taken into account and that no matter how many alternatives you have, the one you choose may not be be better than the best of them.

Some keys to generating alternatives are the following:

Use goals to guide the search for good alternatives. Challenge limitations. Set high aspirations, as these force you to think in new ways. Give free rein to your imagination before consulting with another person. Use learnings from past experiences. Ask for suggestions from others.

4. The consequences

After having defined the problem, the objectives and the alternatives, You must compare the advantages and disadvantages of each option you have generated. Judge the extent to which each of them satisfies your objectives. Describe the consequences accurately and completely. Some keys to defining consequences are the following:

Mentally place yourself in the future and see what consequences your options will have. Describe the consequences of each alternative. Eliminate the alternatives that do not help you achieve your objectives. Organize in a table the descriptions of the consequences of the alternatives you have left.

5. Transactions

On many occasions the objectives that you have proposed contradict each other, so you must find the middle point between both. Sometimes you need to sacrifice a little of something in exchange for something else.

Making difficult decisions involves setting priorities and making sacrifices to achieve balance.

6. Uncertainty

There are situations in which it is impossible to know the consequences that a choice will have. When you choose, you may know what may happen, but you cannot be sure of that. What to do in these cases?

Life is full of uncertainty and many of the decisions you must make have many risks. It is not possible to magically make uncertainty disappear, but it is possible to increase the chances of making a good decision despite the doubt. To do this, do the following:

Recognize the existence of uncertainty. Think systematically about it and determine the various results it could produce. Assign a probability of occurrence to each one and establish its possible impact.

Build a risk profile to simplify making difficult decisions amid uncertainty:

Identify key uncertainty. Define outcomes. Assign probabilities. Clarify consequences.

7. Risk tolerance

You need to think about what would happen if you make the wrong decision. and if you would be willing to take that risk. To take your risk tolerance into account when comparing risk profiles, follow these recommendations:

Think about the attractiveness of the consequences of the alternatives you are considering. Compare that attractiveness with the probability that they will occur. Select the alternative.

8. The decisions linked

Linked decisions require thinking about both the present and the future. To make an appropriate choice about what to do now, it is necessary to think about what will be done in the future. The following steps will guide you:

Understand the basic decision problem. Identify ways to reduce uncertainty. Identify associated future decisions. Understand the relationships in the linked decisions. Decide what to do in the basic decision to be made. Treat subsequent decisions as new problems.

Therefore, it is essential that when analyzing your decision with the PROACT method you can also evaluate if that decision excites you, if it is really good for you, if it allows you to make a contribution to your life or the lives of others and if it attracts you, it is That is, if you feel called and seduced by it. Contemplating these aspects will help you make difficult decisions focused on the meaning of your life.

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