How to Make Courageous Decisions
Posted on March 25, 2017 by Ursina Teuscher, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Do you avoid some decisions because you're afraid to even think about them? Here are some tips on how to become a braver decision maker.
First of all, we’re not always great at recognizing our own fears. Here’s how you can recognize whether your decision scares you:
o You avoid making the decision altogether, for example by procrastinating or by shifting the responsibility to others.
o You get overly emotional about your decision. Maybe you get angry or burst into tears when others are bringing up uncomfortable truths about your situation? Such emotional outbursts are effective ways of shutting down a conversation, but they can be warning signs that your fears are holding you back from thinking and acting in the best way.
o You keep investing into previous mistakes. This is also known as “escalating commitment”. When coping with poor outcomes of our previous choices, it is tempting to dig in our heels and devote even more resources to our current path, in the hope of somehow making it work. But sometimes, making the best decision for the future requires that we admit having made a mistake in the past. This is not easy: even admitting mistakes just to ourselves takes a lot of courage, but it can open the door to a new and better direction.
If any of these points ring true, take it as a warning sign that you might need more courage to approach your decision.
But how can you become a braver decision maker?
The simplest way to get more courage is to take responsibility for your decision process, even if the outcomes are not all in your control. Follow a decision process that is in line with your values. Without being able to predict the future, we will never have a guarantee that good decisions will lead to good consequences, but there is plenty of evidence showing that a good decision process is indeed more likely to result in better outcomes. Since you will make many decisions over your lifetime, you can therefore be assured that if you follow a good decision process throughout your life, your decision outcomes will be better overall.
Here are five steps you can take to tackle your decisions fearlessly:
1) Commit to a smart and value-driven decision process. This does not guarantee good outcomes, but it does make them more likely.
2) Ask yourself: What matters most for this decision? In other words, what are my personal criteria as to whether the outcome will be “good” or “bad”? These criteria will be your values for this particular decision. Don’t be afraid to commit to several values, not just one.
3) Think: What can I do that best fulfills all those values that are important to me?
4) Act. Once you have decided on the most promising course of action that way, plan specific next steps. The knowledge that you’ve made a decision that is based on your values – rather than on fear – will empower you to act with confidence.
Selected References:
Anderson, B., Hahn, D., & Teuscher, U. (2013). Heart and Mind: Mastering the Art of Decision Making. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Bruine de Bruin, W., Parker, A. M., & Fischhoff, B. (2007). Individual differences in adult decision-making competence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 938–956.
Dean, J. W., & Sharfman, M. P. (1996). Does Decision Process Matter? A Study of Strategic Decision-Making Effectiveness. The Academy of Management Journal, 39(2), 368–396.
Keeney, R. L. (1996). Value-Focused Thinking: A Path to Creative Decision Making. Harvard University Press.
