The Decision-Making Dance: Crafting Wise Decisions to Avoid Negative Unintended Consequences
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We make decisions every day. Thousands have studied and written about the art of decision-making. However, none of the studies or books share my story and the lessons I have learned about unintended consequences.
How can we become more proactive in our decision-making to avoid unintended consequences? Becoming a proactive decision-maker requires consideration of outcomes before making decisions.
Reactive decision-makers are the opposite of proactive decision-makers. They make decisions quickly and often only consider the stimulus or trigger that caused the need for a decision.
Proactive decision-makers understand that they have the power of choice. Choice allows us to consider the future or ripple of consequences based on our actions.
Along with the intended solution, there will be consequences to our decisions. Some will be good, and some bad. We may get the desired result, but other repercussions often occur as well. In addition to getting results, decision-makers should strive to avoid problems.
When I became a high school principal, adults immediately shared concerns. One concern was the behavior at school dances. Students were dancing too close to each other. In addition, some students were displaying their "slam dancing" skills at school dances. Athletic young people jumping in the air and slamming into others did not impress adults.
I had many assignments that were more challenging than dealing with young people at a dance, so I made a quick decision. I was reacting to the problem.
My solution was to create dance procedures. I communicated the procedures in writing and verbally over the intercom. In my mind, this was an easy fix.
I developed a contract that each student had to sign before attending the dance. Here are two of the expectations I communicated for dance conduct:
The dance steps/movement may be no more than a PG-13 rating.
During fast dances, be under control. We want no injuries due to collisions.
After a few days of announcements and collecting contracts, I felt good about my decision-making. I was confident that I had solved the problem of inappropriate dancing at a high school dance.
However, on the morning of the dance day, one of the students in my student leadership advisory committee came to me and asked, "Are you standing by the PG-13 rating for dance moves?"
I knew from prior discussions with her that she and most students were unhappy with me.
"Yes. I stand by my decision."
The student pulled out a copy of a 1987 movie called Dirty Dancing from her backpack. She pointed to the PG-13 rating and smiled.
The movie has all the dancing that would upset the adults. Great!
The unintended consequence of my reactive decision was more work to solve the problem.
I had to change my procedures and clarify expectations. I also had many conversations and laughed with students about my mistake.
Even though it was a reasonably easy fix, it was an excellent example of how people making decisions must look out for unintended consequences.
How could I have avoided the problem? Below are a few proactive decision-making fundamentals:
Talk to other people closest to the problem.
Take time to focus on precisely what will happen after making the decision. What is the ripple of consequences?
Be proactive rather than reactive in decision-making.
Include high-level planning in the decision-making process. Check and re-check all written communications.
Study historical facts associated with the situation.
When faced with a problem, identify more than one solution.
Learn from decision-making mistakes. Learning from failures is an excellent way to become more effective.
Decision-making is rewarding when you learn how to avoid problem outcomes and achieve desired results. We cannot always avoid unintended consequences, but if we are proactive, we can decrease ripple consequences from striking like a giant wave.
Martial Arts Perspective:
In martial arts training, students learn skills that could easily injure others. What might be a consequence of using martial arts techniques during horseplay situations? They need to understand that they must demonstrate self-discipline and make good decisions.
Highly effective martial arts instructors teach students more than martial arts skills. They must include lessons on decision-making and unintended consequences.
Questions:
Think of a time you made a decision that had unintended consequences. If you could change history, what process would you use to improve your decision-making and the outcome?
Think of a decision that you will soon have to make. You have time to think through the process of decision-making. Identify more than one solution. Include possible unintended consequences in the analysis.
Share with a friend the importance of discussing problems with others before making a decision. Why is this action necessary?
Create a graph diagram showing how a decision can ripple out to a solution and unintended consequences.
What changes can you make in your decision-making process based on what you know about unintended consequences?
The image in this post is an image from Midjourney. We have a Midjourney license agreement to use images and design tools from the Midjourney site.
