Life is a process of continuous learning, this is what I have realized in assessing all that I have learned in taking this course. This course allowed me to become conscious about the reason why many people constantly seek knowledge, and it made me appreciate the saying that knowledge is power. Learning is a cycle that starts from what one already knows, going toward other aspects that needs further understanding and knowledge expansion. Further, I realized that constant learning is important in many aspects of life, and especially so one needs to make critical decisions. A person should not make decisions based only what he or she feels, but based on weighing different elements that concern the decision. Thus, learning and knowledge are vital because it can have a considerable impact on the result of one’s decisions. This course allows me to appreciate the importance of learning as it made me define some aspects of my personality that affect my way of behaving, and decision making.
Models of Decision Making
This topic introduced me to the different concepts as to why and how people make their decisions. It also enlightened me about my own decision making, and I can say that I can relate to some of the theories described under this topic.
The topic on models of decision making discussed about the expected utility theory, which allows the decision maker to weigh the options based the predicted utility value. It was Bernoulli in 1738 who explained about the St. Petersburg Paradox, and elaborated about a model where people have the tendency in maximizing expected utility instead of the possible monetary return. Another theory in decision making is satisficing which provides that people tend to satisfice instead of optimise when they make their decisions. Under this concept, people search for diverse alternatives and are likely to choose an option that meets their specific needs. Further, there is also the prospect theory in decision making where it was posited that under circumstances with unknown outcomes, people are likely to make their decision based on possible losses and gains.
It does not surprise me to know that there are different ways to deal with decisions. There are those who can take risky decisions, while there are also those who tend to stay within the safe side in their decision making. Often times, people make decisions that make them feel convenient, although, there are some who thrive on taking uncertain options. This is true in the business world, such that some businessmen may opt for choices that will not lead to great returns but will ensure that their business will survive. On the other hand, there are entrepreneurial spirited people who can take risks in exchange for better returns.
A closer examination of these theories in decision making made me realized that I tend to decide based on the satisficing theory. I am a bit of the conservative type when it comes to decisions, and I often like to settle for decisions that might not be the best, but would allow me to stay on the safer side of the fence. I have this propensity to choose alternatives that are good enough, in fear that opting for riskier one’s will result to larger consequences when they will turn out wrong. My being a satisficer had an impact on my choice of course to take in college, that is, while I think that my course is not the best, it is good enough for me. For me, it makes sense to choose options that are good enough, for as long as it suits my personality and I am confident that I will do well in this field. However, I also recognized the possibility that I am missing out a lot for being a satisficer. This is especially when it is time for me to employed, as decision making is generally a part of almost every job.
Availability, Intuition and Emotion
This topic allows me to realize the impact of experiences in decision making. When one makes a decision, there is a high probability for one to consider past situations that relate to the current setting.
Heuristics in decision making let people decide based on the minimal information available to them. These the defined as mental shortcuts that enable individuals to come up with speedy approaches in their decisions. Consequently, heuristics allow for the minimization of work in making decisions, since it offers the efficient determination of signs and choices for better decisions. Further, heuristics reduce the work associated with the retrieval and storage of vital information from memory. As a result, the decision making becomes quicker due to the lesser amount of information needed to pass judgement. Heuristics are generally used by decision makers in choosing alternatives, for instance, when an individual have to choose between two alternatives, he or she is likely to opt for the one that is more recognizable or more popular. That is, the recognizability of one option reduces the time and effort used to decide. A good example of heuristic in decision making is the price heuristic, where buyers tend to perceive the quality of the product based on its price.
Under the heuristic availability theory, the assessment of an element is largely based on the ease by which similar or associated instances come to mind. People tend to base on the result of first hand experiences, rather than the knowledge taken from statistics. For example, statistical reports about burglary have a lesser tendency to affect a person, compared to neighborhood or even first hand experiences about this crime.
On a personal note, I think that I have often relied on heuristic availability when making some decisions. For example, when buying some foods, I tend to favor the more popular brands. Now, I realize that the popularity of the brand helps me make the decision faster, because I no longer need to inspect details of the product. It is often difficult to decide when you still have to know further details, but the availability of critical information is helpful as it speeds up the process of making a choice. Further, this topic made me realize that the combination of experiences and the availability of additional information can have a considerable impact on decision making.
Dual Process in Decision Making
In this topic, the discussion focus on the duality of factors that affect decision making in the general and business setting. There is the idea that decision makers must be rational when making judgement, however, this is not the case due to several elements that affect the decision. There is the danger associated with the inability to focus and the absence of sufficient cognitive resources during the time where the decision maker must pass judgement.
Under the theory of dual process in decision making, it is posited that behaviors tend to be affected by factors such as emotions, cognitive shortcuts. Further, there is also the dissimilarity in the approach in decision making, that is, while there are people who tend to respond quickly to situations, there are those who wanted a more effortful approach in coming up with their decisions. The discussion of this topic leads to the realization that there are conflicts between the emotional and cognitive processes.
The dual process in decision making has also affected me in many ways. There are many instances when I cannot make up my mind on certain things, and this topic made me realize that it must be the workings of this dual process that is affecting me in most of my decisions.
Groups in Decision Making
Groups in decision making is an instance when people come together and collectively decide on an option from among different options available to them. Thus, the decision making is not attributed to one person, but to the group as a whole.
In line with the collective approach in decision making, Osborn came up with the idea of brainstorming. According to Osborn, the process of brainstorming is inspirational and it is helpful in coming up with effective decisions. The goal during brainstorming is for the members to come up with as many ideas, since the initial aim is to achieve quantity instead of quality. The group will then decide on the most effective, efficient and better option. One of the positive aspect of this approach is that it silences criticism and negative feedback since the decision was made by the group as whole. It was found that while brainstorming tends to make group members less creative, this process leads makes creativity as an integral part of groupings.
Despite the positive aspect of letting each member participate in collective decision making, researchers revealed the tendency of groups to make faulty decisions in the process. This is referred to as groupthink, which is coined as the possibility of making wrong decisions. This happens when groups pressures cause the deterioration of the cognitive ability of the members. The reason for the deterioration of the mental capacity of the group can be attributed to the fact that the group as a whole tend to ignore the existence of alternatives. In addition to that, the group can collectively ignore irrational behaviors that can have a negative effect on other groups. There are several possibilities why groups will deteriorate due to groupthink. Some of these reasons include having members who hail from the same background. Further, it could also be possible that the group is prevented from mingling with others, thus they are prevented from gaining insights from other people. Consequently, the absence of clear guidelines in decision making allows the decision making ability of the group to further deteriorate. Brainstorming can sometimes pose some risk in individuals, and this usually happens when an individual suggested an option that may appear senseless.
The reason why groupthink is likely to lead to a faulty decision is that the members may fail in determining the group objectives, as well as in weighing the given alternatives. There is also the tendency of closed groups to consider only their own reasoning, positions and alternatives without opting to welcome outside ideas. Consequently, this problem can be fixed through the employment of a group leader who is qualified to become the evaluator.
As a student, I have always come across activities that require being in a group. It was through the various group activities that I appreciated the importance of brainstorming in resolving issues. For example, in my case, there are some research projects that require the collective effort of the group. In order to reduce confusion, our group decided to brainstorm about the best possible approach. We found brainstorming effective because each member is allowed to give his or her opinion and we acted as one in choosing the best way to handle our projects. Overall, the brainstorming helped us come up with creative ideas. I think that the idea of having a group of people who generate fresh leads to better decisions.
Probability and uncertainty
The probability and uncertainty theory are two theories that can also be used in decision making. Probability refers to the ability in predicting the percentage of an outcome, such as the probability of a specific side of a dice with continued rolling.
There are several factors that affect the likelihood and probability judgement, and one of which is related to the heuristic availability theory. For example, people’s judgement about the probability of being afflicted with lung cancer can be affected by the existence of statistical reports. However, since there are people who are healthy despite being heavy smokers, many people start to doubt statistical reports due to first hand experiences.
It should be noted that when people are faced with a challenging task in coming up with a probability assessment, they generally use heuristic availability in order to minimize decision making factors to fewer elements.
Another factor that affects the probability and uncertainty is the fact that people tend to become overconfident at times. Overconfidence can lead other people to believe too much in their own abilities, to the extent that they assumed their ability to fully control uncertain circumstances. The concept of base rate neglect is also another factor that influences a decision, such that there is the likelihood in ignoring the impact of initial probabilities while putting heightened emphasis in the secondary probability values.
The probability theory affects the way by which I deal with my studies. The fact that there are a large number of students who failed a subject in the past semester makes me think about the possibility of failing a subject. This new knowledge about probability and uncertainty allows me to think about quantifying my assessments of possible outcomes. In addition to that, I gained an insight about the diverse factors that can affect my decision such as my previous experiences.
I realized how, in the many decisions I made that some of them are largely influenced by a probability. Making critical decisions may not be a part of my day to day activities just yet, but this topic allowed me to gain important insights about making decisions in diverse settings. It might be easy to make decisions under circumstances where all the elements are presented in logical weighing of options and consequences. However, it is most challenging having to deal with decision making under uncertain situations. The lack of knowledge may lead one to make mistakes in the process, especially that the uncertainty factor generally puts an individual in a circumstance where he or she has no sufficient control.
I have learned that when making decisions under uncertain events, people have the tendency to make irrational decisions. The idea of the unknown overpowers rationality, thus every decision makers must remain aware of the risks, the uncertainty and the possible consequences of decisions made. Further, in order to lessen the risks associated with uncertainty, there is a need for every decision maker to examine relevant information that can have an effect on the decision. This is especially so among business decision makers who are always facing risks in the day-to-day conduct of their business.
In facing uncertainties, I think that the most important factor to consider is in defining the problem at hand. In line with this, is the determination of all the feasible approaches in handling these issues. That is, a logical evaluation of the alternatives are needed. During the discussion of this topic, I realized that business decision makers may not have the needed technical know-how in determining risks, especially among businesses with complex products and systems. In this instance, the support of an independent expert is needed. This is to ensure that possible options, events, and consequences are weighted, in addition to the quantification of existing uncertainties. The key is to properly lay out the difficulties and come up with possible ways to approach them. Overall, decision makers must have the needed support for them to make the best decision even under undesirable events.
Why did you choose the topic
I choose procrastination as a topic because this is a common problem among a large number of individuals. While there are people who procrastinate at a minimal degree, there are those whose professional and personal careers were negatively affected by this behavior. For some, procrastination is a normal behavior, thus posing only a minimal problem. However, a closer examination shows that procrastination is actually a thief that steels a considerable amount of time. It should be noted that a time lost can never be regained, thus the need for people to minimize down time. This is not to say that one must not rest, but that time must be used in the most productive manner.
Further, I choose this topic because I would like to point out how procrastination could be a sign of other concerns. For example, it was found that chronic procrastinators tend to have problems with low-self esteem, insisting that he or she can perform optimally despite the they do not have the capacity to do so.
I would also like to call on the difficulties faced by procrastinators. As people who constantly fail to work on their planned activities ahead, procrastinators may end up feeling inadequate. While there are people who immediately know about their weakness, some procrastinators often feel frustrated for not having the ability to deal with their problems. Consequently, by being able to understand the factors that leads to procrastination, as well as its consequences can help in the development of guidelines that can be used to prevent procrastination.
Procrastination is one among the factors which I consider to have a considerable impact on decision making.
Definition
Procrastination is referred to as the avoidance of completing a task at hand, in exchange for doing more pleasurable activities. In addition to that, it can also be referred as the tendency of individuals to put off a difficult task for the last minute. Some examples of procrastination include putting off repairing the leaking roof, seeking the advice of a doctor, starting an academic paper, and working out for a better physical appearance.
There are several criteria that lead an individual to become a procrastinator. This behavioral problem affects cognition and the performance of a task and this can be attributed to its interconnection with the emotion and cognitive processes.
Disadvantages of Procrastination
Procrastination is considered as a behavioral barrier, the reason is that it serves as an obstacle in doing important tasks. Some of these barriers include checking one’s email, being on Facebook or cleaning the room, all of which are done while putting off more important but complicated tasks. Often times, procrastination leads to feelings of inadequacy, depression and anxiety.
Advantages
Nevertheless, procrastination has some advantages since it allows the procrastinator to suffer less from the stress of doing the tasks. The short period of time allotted in doing the tasks reduces the pressure of completing the tasks. In addition to that, those who were able to succeed in completing the tasks at the last minute tend to feel some extent of gratification with the idea of having completed the work within a short period of time. Consequently, reports revealed that people who get used to procrastinating have difficulty of changing his behavior.
Explanation of How the Course Changed my Ideas on this Topic
Despite the fact that some procrastinators were able to get things and were able to become good at doing things at the last minute, this behavior can have a detrimental impact especially in decision making. I must admit that I have this tendency to procrastinate and postpone things from doing things that should be done. This course allowed me to see how this behavior is affecting my life, especially in doing my responsibilities as a student. I must develop a way to minimize procrastinating, knowing how it is negatively impacting my life. I know it would be a difficult process, but the knowledge gained from this course will surely help me overcome possible challenges.
One of the best strategy that I can use to beat up procrastination would be to develop a good time management skills. This is important because of my tendency to put off important task for later. Based on the ideas taken from this course, there is a need to know when one starts to procrastinate, understand the reason behind it, and make an effort to focus on the work that must be completed first.
In my case, I tend to procrastinate when doing that tasks that appear daunting, thus I try to avoid doing them. However, during this course I realized that the best way to deal that seem unpleasant is to immediately act on them to get over them very quickly. When the tasks appear overwhelming, the next option is to break them into smaller manageable tasks. The key is to plan and start, and not put off doing it.
I think that it would also help when I will plan ahead, and be organized in my work. For example, having a list of tasks to be completed will let me know the importance of each task and which one of them should be completed ahead. Research showed that time inconsistency tends to be one among the reason why procrastination is difficult to let go, despite the repeated self-reassurance to finally get rid of it. Time inconsistency is defined as the human brain’s tendency to want quick rewards, rather than quick rewards.
A move from leaving procrastination behind, and taking action requires motivation. This includes being motivated by future rewards and the self-fulfillment of having completed important tasks ahead of time. I now know how the idea of instant gratification had been one of the reasons why I procrastinate, and knowing this, I think that the best way to handle daunting works is to get my motivation into proper perspective. For example, in doing reports, I tend to put them off until the last minutes, and I found that the best way to handle it is to start doing the work right then and there.
