Some Decisions on Making Good Decisions

Recently I spent time with my nearly three-year-old Nephew. He was a maniac. It wasn’t his fault. He is young, and he was tired because he didn’t sleep well, and this meant that he didn’t eat his food, and this meant that he cried at any little perceived slight against him.

Using a toy that he wanted, tears. The TV showing the wrong show, tears. Suggesting taking a nap, tears.

He had no way to emotionally regulate himself so everything was emotional.

But we are adults, surely we are not like that.

Judge Yourself

We think that judges are wise and thoughtful and above any of these emotional issues. They are paragons of thought, intellect, and rationality.

Well, you would be wrong, they are just humans with sometimes silly wigs. They also can lack the ability to emotionally regulate themselves.

A study by Columbia University and Ben Gurion University (Israel) found that of the more than 1000 decisions made by 8 judges on the parole board, 65% of requests were granted at the start of the day and nearly none at the end of the day.

Also, after they had a snack, the approvals jumped back up to the 65% rate.

People Are People Too

We all think we are adults, but really we are sophisticated two-year-olds that still want to be told we are smart, funny, and beautiful.

We suffer from mental and decision fatigue. The more decisions we make, the more tired we become and the more likely we are to search for simple answers.

As we get tired we want to make fewer decisions.

Better Decisions

To make better decisions you need to make better decisions with how you are making your decisions.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

Have you slept well?

Have you eaten well?

Do you have any other things going on in your head taking up bandwidth?

Are you tired?

Does this decision need to be made right now?

Look Out for Others

Now that you have thought about yourself, think about others.

Should the meeting take a break for some food and air?

Does this person seem inconsistent? Tired? Stressed?

Are the people in a position to give you a thoughtful answer?

A fast bad decision is worse than a slow good decision. Set yourself and your team up by making decision heavy moments early in the day or with adequate food and rest.

To sum up – Last minute on a Friday is probably not a good idea to have a meeting.