Almost every importantdecision I’ve ever had to make has been made out of necessity and underpressure of various kinds, and that’s given me the chance to work out a processthat I can use to work through them in a detached way. You can never eliminateall the bias that comes from emotions and circumstances. Subjectivity isinherently part of being a human being. But you can minimize that bias throughthe use of a reliable process and make the most of a bad situation. Here’s how.

1. Know the Situation

Knowledge is power. Thebetter you understand the decision and all that it entails, the more likely youare to make a good decision. The first step of the process is to put yourresearch skills to use and study the relevant material, study ituntil you’re intimate with it.

Employ various researchtechniques. Don’t rely on anecdotal evidence, such as the opinions of trustedfriends, but acquire it — it matters. Hard information matters, and some peoplewould say it matters the most, but a healthy mixture of hard information andthe opinions of those who have “been there and done that” is best in myopinion. It serves to reduce the sway that media manipulation by marketers orvested interests may have wielded through the bias in (what seems to be)objective texts.

You want to know the bigpicture, and you want to know the fine print. Leave no stone unturned, becausethe small pebbles in their aggregate have just as much weight as the big rocks.

2. Know the Outcomes

From the certainty ofinformation, you must turn to the tentative vacillation of prediction. There’sno way you can know the future, but the knowledge you have gathered will helpyou to get closer to it. Make the best prediction you can as to the outcome ofthe various options you have at your disposal. What are the short-term effects?What are (more importantly, usually) the long-term effects? Will the effects ofmy decision affect the lives of others and how?

It is too easy to getcaught up in the minutiae of your decision and make your final choice based onsmall factors or short-term effects. After doing heavy research, the quality ofyour decisions can be affected by familiarity blindness. So it’s important totake a careful look at where each decision puts you in a week, a month, a year,a decade. This helps you regain your perspective.

3. Consult with theObjective

Talk to objective people —people who aren’t your friends — who are experts or knowledgeable in the areayou need to make a decision in. Research as done in the first step is aboutfinding out all the information that is out there already. It’s staticinformation and can’t be tailored to your situation because it (should) justdescribe what is. Objective experts can look at your situation, and withoutemotional attachment to you, give advice on the best course of action.

But what is objectively thebest course of action as far as an expert is concerned isn’t always the bestcourse of action. It usually is, but subjectivity does play a part. If youdon’t feel you could live with the results of the decision they suggest or itdoesn’t align with your core values and beliefs, it’s not stupid to pass theadvice over. Seek a second opinion or go for the next most workable suggestionon their list.

4. Commit

The thing about difficultdecisions, and decisions you need to make under pressure, isn’t just thatthey’re hard to make in the first place. It’s that they’re hard to commit to.If you’ve followed a sound process for determining the best course of action,and the advice you have attained is sound advice, the best course of actionshould be clear by now.

That doesn’t mean it’s theeasiest course of action. The best one rarely is the easiest. Be sure when youmake your final decision, and commit to it. Start implementing it as soon asyour situation allows, because once you’ve made the first steps it’s harder tofall back into your indecision.

Regards,

Rahul Gupta.

http://www.rahulonlineblog.blogspot.com