When it comes to problem solving I am a very
logical and process oriented person. In
fact when I read Whetten and Cameron’s (2011) model of problem solving I
thought they must have been watching me in action. They laid out four steps to problem solving:
define the problem, generate alternative solutions, evaluate and select an
alternative and implement and follow up on the solution. I very much follow that pattern when it comes
to large decisions.
A few words that I would use to describe my decision-making
style would be: logical, rational, active and assertive. The opposites of these words, as demonstrated
in the video “Decision Making Strategies” (2012) would be: intuitive, emotion,
passive and quiet. I can see where
leaning more towards passive and quiet may have gotten me further than being
active and assertive, and there have certainly been times where following
intuition would have been a better option than being logical. Even though the world may seem to run on a
logical and predicable axis, something is always there to throw it off and at
that point being intuitive could be most important.
This exercise has made me think a lot about the
way I make decisions in my life, mostly in regards to my family. It has always been know to my husband and I
that I am the one that is calm and rational when it come to large crisis and
major decisions, and he does better with the day to day routine decision. An example is that I tend to lose my mind
when a change of plans happens at the last minute; especially if it involved
something I was looking forward to. Now
with five kids you can imagine how often changes occur. I had to learn to adapt to the change and
learn how to re-plan around it. One
decision we have struggles with off and on for the better part of ten years is
whether or not he should leave Florida and move up to Vermont to be with
us. In the ten years we have been
together he has only lived with me in Vermont for a little over a year. The money is much better in Florida and so we
consistently play it safe and he stays there.
Every six to eight months I rally for him to find a job up here and move
home, but when it comes time to accept the new job I tend to back down for
monetary reasons. I would say that I
tend to play it safe when it comes to major decisions. I want to know all possible outcomes and the
risks involved before I make a decision, and most of the time I make the safe
choice.
I also thought back to how I made decisions
before I was a wife and mother, and I feel I was way more impulsive and
self-fulfilling. It is much easier to
act that way when no one is depending on you.
Experience and possible age have played large roles in changing my
decision making style. I have to think
about what is best for everyone not just myself.
Decision-Making Strategies. (2012, April 2). Retrieved
August 28, 2015.
Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S.
(2011). Developing Management Skills (E. Svendsen
Ed. 8th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
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