An Insider’s Guide to Decision-Making
The increasing uncertainty and inevitable change everyone faces is bringing our decision-making capacities to the forefront. What are the mechanics of this key cognitive function and how can we do it better?
We are all seasoned decision-makers and anticipators. From the time I got up this morning, the decision-making machine has been at work: deciding to get out of bed, which qi gong routine I would do, to actually do that last run up the hill even when I was longing for a leisurely stroll. And on it has gone, some choices being habit and less conscious, others being pondered.
In today’s overall upheaval, the consequences of our decisions seem to be ballooning, so what better time to hack our way to better decisions.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
What exactly happens when we make decisions? According to Daeyeol Lee, from Yale University’s Kavli Institute of Neuroscience, “You are trying to predict before you take an action what outcome may occur by using analogies of your previous experiences, or by observing and remembering the outcomes of other people’s behaviors.”
Memories, values, needs, world view, personality and stimuli from the surrounding environment all come into play as you evaluate possible outcomes and risks, suppress certain learned responses and biases, and more.
All of that, all of the time.
Enemy Number One
An obvious foe to good decision-making is fatigue. The mere act of deciding drains the batteries. Making choices reduces self-control, physical stamina, and persistence in the face of failure. The more environmental stimuli we experience, the more decisions we make. It is no wonder it gets harder as the day goes on.
And, just so you know, choosing is more exhausting than deliberating and more tiring than implementing someone else’s choices.
The good news? Anticipating that the selection process will be enjoyable can reduce the depleting effect, but only for initial choices.
Too Much is Too Much
I can’t possibly be the only person to ever have been paralyzed at the grocery store, unable to decide which shampoo to buy. When we have too much choice, we make no choice at all—or we opt for bad choices.
When information comes into the brain, the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for decision making and controlling emotions) lights up in a flurry of activity. Get too much coming in and the activity in that region drops off suddenly, ”as if a circuit breaker had popped.” Then, the red carpet rolls out for stupid mistakes, bad choices, and emotions running wild.
Our Emotions and Our Decisions
Emotion is part and parcel to decision making. According to neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, we could not make effective decisions in the absence of emotional input to provide both motivation and meaning. Emotions supply information and encourage fast decision-making, help decide if the solution is relevant, and enhance commitment.
The Unconscious Guide
There is a whole unconscious system guiding our decisions. If information just keeps pouring in, there is no room for creative part to function, for the brain to subconsciously integrate new information with existing knowledge, make new connections, and see hidden patterns.
According to Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis, the conscious mind makes the simpler decision. Most decisions requiring complex reasoning are unconscious, and decisions made by the unconscious mind just may be clearer and better. It helps to disconnect and let it work.
Go it Alone
We are social creatures, and yet researchers have found that the quality of our decisions drops when we over-use information from friends, family and colleagues. And when individuals don’t honor their instincts, the group becomes less responsive to change. So, go with the gut.
Time and Time Again
Decision accuracy and decision time are related, with the latter is inversely correlated to certainty. ”Longer decision times are often associated with weaker sensory evidence and higher error rates.”
Important, Urgent, Recent
Our brains are not entirely reliable. In fact, we are full of cognitive biases—confirmation bias, selective perception, recency illusion, just to name a few. Wired to notice change, the brain mistakes immediacy for quality. If something changes it becomes the center of attention, whether it is important or not, driving our decision making. Add to that beliefs, social norms and expectations, and it’s any wonder we actually make good decisions at all.
Overcoming cognitive biaises requires awareness and deep processing.
A Decision-making Protocol
Determine whether you are a maximixer (attempt to achieve optimal result) or a satisficers (find a good enough solution), and then choose which is better in this case (find out more).
Identify the decision to be made and establish criteria.
Consider alternatives and ramifications.
Recognize any emotions and feelings attached to the decision and decide what to do with them (listen to them, process them, dialogue with them, ignore them).
Breathe deeply and be aware of somatic, embodied information. What does your gut say? What does your heart say?
Let it sit. Give time for your unconscious mind to work.
Make your selection, act, and review.
Hacking Decision-making
Drink enough water. Even 2-3% dehydration impairs decision-making capability
Care for your working memory, you use it to make decisions (see article)
Plan habitual routines to reduce decision fatigue and improve ability to make day-to-day decisions
Radically reduce the number of choices you make every day—eliminate or delegate.
Set aside time for important decisions, and anticipate enjoying the process.
Prioritize the criteria you will use to choose. More is not better.
Stop the flood of information—remember your device has an off button (read this article). Pull back and take a break.
Let decisions sit so the unconscious mind can do its thing.
Make up your own mind and remember that the collective benefits from our own individual decisions.
Beware of decisions that take a long time to make.
Do 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation before decision-making, studies show it helps people make smarter choices.