A Guide to Good Decision-Making
‘What should I do?’ Choices and daily decisions confront us daily, making us react either hastily or hesitantly rather than responding with real resolve. They besiege and bombard us. We’re pulled and pushed, driven and drawn in different directions.
Good decisions benefit businesses; poor decisions do untold damage. Mistakes can be costly. It’s as much about the person making the decision as it is about the process involved. Effective decision-making combines will with skill. It’s about discerning wisely and deciding well. We need to be attentive in experiencing, intelligent in understanding, reasonable in judgement, and responsible in deciding.
Various models, such as the following two, that have been proposed:
GOFER
- Goals
- Options
- Facts
- Effects
- Review
DECIDE
- Define the problem
- Establish the criteria
- Consider the alternatives
- Identify the best options
- Develop a plan of action
- Evaluate the solution
Our approach differs in that it draws on three (re)sources: Bernard Lonergan’s practical philosophy; Viktor Frankl’s psychology; and the secular spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola which, taken together, provide an incredible method for making meaningful decisions in work and life.