From a personal perspective, I think it is very difficult to separate
emotion from rational thinking when it comes to making decisions of great
importance. I am not stating that I think it is impossible, but it is not a
skill that everyone can master with ease.
Those individuals who have mastered the techniques are often referred to
as cold hearted and other not so nice terms.
What must be understood in the business world is that those in charge
have a loyalty to the organization first and to the employee second. The business world would like to think that
leaders and managers use the rationally optimal path or conform to certain
managerially defined terms of rationality, when it comes to decision making. In a perfect world, these same decision makers
research and weigh all pertinent information when making decisions, and at the
same time, avoid emotionally filled personal hunches, preferences or that
almighty gut feeling. With all the information I have provided, I have a deep
belief that, emotions are something that cannot be controlled so easily. In a perfect world, reasoning and emotion should
be balanced and the two should serve as two complimentary systems in the
decision making process.
On numerous occasions I have fallen to the process of
using emotions when it comes to decision making. Earlier in the course, I discussed my internal
struggle of my future education endeavors. The issue here is I have always had a deep
emotional desire to complete doctoral program with a concentration of
leadership. Because of my work schedule,
I was faced with the choice of enrolling in doctorial programs for in which I
felt no passion or emotional connection.
I did not want to complete the doctoral program for monetary gains, it
would be more of a personal accomplishment, however, from a rational
perspective, any one of the doctoral program would have benefitted me financially
in the future. There were several
emotions I felt throughout this decision making process; frustration, confusion,
anger and hopelessness. I was not able
to enter a doctoral program of my choice for various reasons which were heavily
influenced by emotions. Instead, I
entered my third Masters Degree program with Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University. When everything is said and
done, I still do not feel satisfied with my choice and feel I had to compromise
on my dreams of success. At the moment I
am not sure if I have regrets on the decision that I made.
Another situation that comes to mind was when my family
had to purchase our last home. We were
face with numerous decisions and everyone was looking at me to be the leader in
this situation. Decisions, decision,
decisions! Issues that had to be
evaluated were price, locations, taxes, local schools, neighborhoods and so on. When you say information overload “information
cascade at its finest”, this is a perfect example. All of these factors had nothing to do with
emotion, or at least the influence of emotions was limited in this
situation. For such a situation the one
thing that was not needed was to become emotionally attached to a home that did
not fit the needs of the family or the overall budget; thus rushing in to a
decision that we may regret later. When
looking back, the amount information received sometimes seemed overwhelming and
the majority of data supposedly grounded in facts. At the end of this journey, I went with a home
that fit our overall tangible needs. There
were several homes that blew my mind on initial viewing; and would draw the
average buyer in instantly. Despite my
frustration and initial confusion, the final purchase actually seemed to be the
right choice.
For each scenario, there were a number of emotions that
either influenced my decision or I had to keep in control. For the educational decision making process; frustration,
confusion, anger and hopelessness all played key roles as I was seeking to
accomplish a personal endeavor. For the home purchasing decision making process;
fear of failure, frustration, sadness, surprise, and acceptance all played key
roles. For this situation I had to
understand that the final decision influenced other stakeholders. As I look back at the weekly discussion forum
for this module, I can clearly state that the students all shared some of the
same emotions in various situations. As
many of my peers stated in this week’s discussion, a lot of their decisions
were based on emotions, fueled by friend, family, or co-workers. While on the rational side, the emotions were
controlled and decisions were made based on fact or experience or sometime a
combination of both. What was learned in
this module is we are all more alike that we realize. Each of my peers may have different experiences
and describe their situations in different words, but the foundation of the
decision making process is the same.