Perhaps the best known method for making decisions is the one we refer to as the Rational Decision-making Model (RDM).

Business schools, the world over, teach it; and if you’ve ever had any management training, then it’s probably familiar to you.

It goes like this:

 

1. Decide what you’re going to do
2. Brainstorm all the options to get you there
3. Pick the best one
4. Prioritise the tasks required to complete that option
5. Decide how to evaluate your results, and
6. If it’s not you, then assign someone else to perform this task and hold him / her accountable for the results.

 

You can add other steps if you wish including the decision about what success will look like.

Remember that specificity will give you better results because you’ll have a clearer idea of what you’re aiming for.

On paper, this sounds great.

That’s why it’s called the Rational Decision-making Model.

Because it’s rational.

And you’re rational, right?

The truth is that you’re not.

 

In fact, no matter how much you protest to the contrary, you know in your heart that you have certain biases and propensities that tilt your decisions in one direction and away from another, and that’s before you even consider the pros and cons.

 

Some years ago, a study was done to find out why companies weren’t getting the people that they wanted.

If you asked the managers what they were looking for, then they would have told you that they wanted people who were innovative.

They wanted their workforce to be entrepreneurs.

It became clear, however, that the reason that people like this weren’t in the company was because they were getting screened out in the selection process.

You see, entrepreneurs hate the status quo.

They question authority.

They don’t like to follow the rules.

They rock the boat.

And so when those characteristics emerged, managers shunned those candidates in favour of those that went with the flow and did what they were told.

You could argue that any rational person would have done the same thing, though that would only be true if that’s what they really wanted.

 

And who knows?

Maybe hiring entrepreneurs was nothing more than a romantic ideal.

It could well be that these managers really didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for.

The thing is that by doing what they thought was rational, they ended up with people who were the opposite of what they claimed to want.

In fact, they probably got people that were just like them.

This is a perfect illustration of how our own irrational thinking gets in the way.

 

Procrastination

Let’s look at something that’s a bit closer to home: procrastination.

There are a lot of reasons why people put things off.

If we were anything like as rational as we’d like to believe that we are, we’d always do what we planned to do.

You know, however, that life isn’t like that.And that’s because our actions are not determined by what sounds rational on paper.

Instead, they’re the result of how we feel.

Rationality - logic, if you prefer - follows the heart. It doesn’t lead it.

 

Decisions aren’t made in a vacuum

It’s worth noting that you never make decisions in a vacuum. What you do will always have a context - a set of circumstances within which you do everything.

Most people will think about how they handled a similar situation in the past, and then decide what to do on what really is the flimsiest of evidence.

This is normal.

In his book, Blink!, Malcolm Gladwell refers to this as thin-slicing.

You see a little piece of something that’s familiar, and that’s enough to remind you of something else which gives you the confidence to act in a particular way.

Why do we use this approach so often?

It’s because if you didn’t, then you’d get decision-fatigue to the extent that you wouldn’t be able to function in your day-to-day activities.

In other words, the circumstances of life prevent you from using the Rational Decision-making Model all the time.

So you have to decide where to use it so that when you do, it can be the most effective.

 

Limitations of the RDM

The Rational Decision-making Model has other limitations.

Brainstorming sounds like a great idea, after all what could be better than listing all of the options and then choosing the best one(s)?

The thing is that you’ll never be able to list all the options.

That’s for a lot of reasons.

One is that you don’t know everything.

Another is that even if you know more than most people in your industry, you don’t have the time to list everything, whether it’s rational or otherwise.

You see, by definition, brainstorming is the act of writing everything down: not just the logical, but the illogical.

If you have to make a decision in the next half hour, you can’t spend all your time jotting down ridiculous possibilities.

 

A second limitation has been mentioned already, but needs to be explicated.

Suppose that you’re a model aeroplane enthusiast.

You’ve been designing planes since you were knee-high to a Volkswagen hubcap.

You know what the best designs are: which ones work and which ones don’t.

If someone who didn’t know you very well looked at all the planes you had designed, they would notice a remarkable similarity among them.

 

Why?

Because despite your previous brainstorming on how to build the next one, you were already predisposed to certain designs rather than others.

In other words, you already knew what worked and what didn’t, and you designed your planes accordingly.

What’s the point in writing irrational ideas just to fulfill the brainstorming step when you know in your heart that you’ll reject them anyway?

In order for true brainstorming to take place, you’d have to discard all that you’ve learned up until now.

You’re not going to do that and, if truth be told, it would be irrational for you to do so.

You have to have very good reasons for ignoring your past experience.

 

Usability of the RDM

In spite of the limitations of the model and the fact that you’re not rational, the model still has value, and not for simply making the odd complex decision.

For one thing, it does give you a method - a plan, if you like.

If nothing else, the Rational Decision-making Model gives you a series of steps that make sense.

Although your responses will be biased, you’re less likely to overlook something important by following the steps than you are if you try to make it up as you go along.

 

The second way that this model helps you is that if you use it properly, then you’re less likely to make rash decisions.

Rash decisions are often the result of impulsiveness.

It’s hard to be impulsive with this model. It forces you to slow down, to be quiet, and not to lash out or just react.

It also forces you to think and gives you the mental space to choose what seems to be the “right’ thing to do.

Of course, you have to recognise that what’s right to you will always be subjective unless you’re basing it on an objective standard.

One standard you could use - it’s still subjective, but better than most - is what feels good to you.

This can be a slippery slope, especially if you’re in the habit of rationalising unacceptable behaviour; but if you make a special effort to have a clear conscience - that is, you try not to violate it, then you’re less likely to choose something that’s shady.

 

Contemplative intuition

Contemplative intuition comes from thinking through your “gut-feeling”.

Some people will tell you to trust your gut.

Unfortunately, your gut can mislead you.

That’s because it’s the same thing as your feelings, and feelings are fickle.

They can change with something as simple as the weather.

Are we Brits affected by the weather?

It’s all we talk about.

How many people do you know - maybe you’re one of them - who has said something like, “I don’t care if it’s cold. I just want to see the sun”?

Sunshine makes us feel better.

Cloud, rain, wind - usually all three occur together - make us feel a bit depressed.

And so we could be faced with identical information and circumstances and make one decision if the sun was shining and quite another if it wasn’t.

 

By using the RDM, however, we wouldn’t necessarily feel any better on a cloudy day.

Instead we could at least be reasonably sure that it wasn’t the weather that was influencing our decisions.

 

As long as you are willing to admit that the decisions you make are subjective and even irrational, then the RDM can benefit you.

That said, if, like many, you make the mistake of believing that because you’re following this model that whatever you decide is rational and objective, then you’ll be surprised at how often what you choose to do doesn’t work.

As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.

And you’ve been warned.

 

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