Why do we make wrong decisions?

 Why do we make wrong decisions? 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have been discussing "making effective decisions," research says that even though we are equipped with many decision-making processes, tools, and techniques, we are psychologically trapped in our thinking process, which affects the quality of decisions we make in our personal life and professional lives.

 
Let us discuss some of the psychological thinking traps in the coming weeks, as the awareness of the same will help us make better decisions.
 
One of the most common thinking traps is "Giving excessive weightage to first information" and taking decisions based on it.

For example,

when we meet a person for the first time, we form an internal perception based on the dressings, tone, ascend, or physique. We make decisions based on it. Later on, the reality may be pleasant or unpleasant. That is the thinking trap of giving excessive weightage to the first impression.

similarly,

When we intend to buy a product or property, we may not know its real value. When the seller initiates the price by stating X, we will decide to purchase or negotiate around the value of X only, and the probability of thinking Y is very low since we are anchored too much on the FIRST Information.

When we set the annual sales target in the organization, either the team will go by last year's performance or the past 3 / 5 years average as the mind is anchored to the first-hand information rather than looking beyond.

That is the thinking trap in decision-making.
 
How to overcome the thinking trap of giving excessive weightage to first information?
 

1. Being aware of our thinking trap when we make important decisions.
2. Doing some work beforehand and getting others' opinions so that we may not be confined with only one piece of information. ( some of us do!) for example, as in buying a product at a given X price, do research and get comprehensive data about the product to avoid the anchoring trap.
3. Going beyond the past or first information – for example, as in sales target example, rather than working from the past, set the target based on the business's market potential.

 
It is natural to get into the thinking trap, and being aware of it will help make the right decisions in personal and professional life!
 
Let us discuss some other thinking traps next week!

Have a great week ahead!