I was with a client the other day when they commented on the difficulty of making well-considered decisions. Now he is more than capable of making decisions but the fact that, much as most of us in today’s hectic lifestyle, making clear decisions can sometimes be difficult due to the constant demands and distractions we are all regularly subjected to.
I then began to think about how fast-paced the world has become and how decisions, right or wrong, are made more on a whim, based on little structure or evidence due to our time constraints.
I often see people spending a fair amount of time re-visiting tasks as interruptions have distracted them. This in turn brings up other topics such as Procrastination and Time-management but we’ll leave those for another day.
At the moment, we are looking at decision making! How do we gain clarity over making judged and worthy decisions? I use a tool called the ‘Cartesian Quadrant’ and the eventual outcome is as a result of 4 well-considered factors to create a satisfactory result.
To begin, grab a clear sheet of A4 paper. Allowing enough room to write along the top and down one side, draw a large box and then lines central top to bottom and central left to right to create a 2×2 matrix.
Top left box is No.1, Top right is No.2, Bottom left No.3 and finally bottom right is No.4
Now for the titles and these will depend on what the decision you’re attempting to come to. However, the principle remains the same, just the wording differs.
To explain, let’s look at a couple of situations. One may be to do with a result from your own personal action, therefore the result will be “What will happen if I do make the change” (#I), whereas another may be to do with a work promotion, therefore “What will be the outcome if we do proceed with this promotion”. Now to make this more apparent…
Along the top, using the above ideas, on the left write “If I DO make the change” on the right, “If I DON’T make the change”. Along the side, level with the top box write “What WILL happen” and underneath, “What WON’T happen”
So each box now raises these questions
No.1 “What WILL happen If I DO make the change”
No.2 “What WON’T happen If I DO make the change”
No.3 “What WILL happen If I DON’T make the change”
No.4 “What WON’T happen If I DON’T make the change”
Simply write your thoughts in each category. Should you be interrupted, you’ll be able to return and focus on each element until you have satisfied all options. As a guide, approach each one with a different outlook. Ie, how will it affect you personally? How will your thoughts be effected from a work, client or friend’s perspective?
Clarity is the key and until you have assessed each area, judgement may be slightly biased. If this is what you wanted, you at least can view what the argument could be and already be armed with your reply!
Coaching to success is all about the ‘Clarity’ and in the melee of rapid business highways where it sometimes appears we don’t have time to scratch our proverbial and this is where we help first help find the time and then to focus on actins to achieve what wouldn’t be perceived as possible before. We have such belief in this, we will credit any person or organisation for the coaching should they not deem it to be a worthwhile return on investment.
If you’re open to take on the challenge, contact Neil either by mail at neil.nutburn@coachingtosuccess.co.uk or direct via phone 07761 187238. Our business is Your success, let us help you gain that clarity to succeed in the next level
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