Flex_ Do Something Different - Ben [46]
52. Why greater coherence leads to better decisions
Lack of personal coherence can lead to poor decisions and choices for various reasons. These include:
Emotions. Emotions cloud logic and judgements. Reasoning powers seem to go out of the window for some people when the subject matter or conclusions involve emotionally laden outcomes. Emotions can also account for many of the flaws in thinking and reasoning that humans show.
Habit. Inertia predisposes people to make the same choices they have made before instead of questioning their own choices. People may also have a stock of excuses to justify their decisions and behaviours.
Low levels of FIT. A lack in any of the five inner constancies means a person is more likely to be distracted by the wrong options. A narrow behavioural repertoire means they will be insufficiently flexible and lack essential behaviours.
Worrying about doing the right thing. Being overly concerned about the reaction of others, or the ramifications a decision may have in other areas of life, can cloud judgement and make for poor choices.
Fantasies of thinking. Some people live in a world of fantasy about themselves, their capabilities and how they behave. Fantasies obscure the best choices because they replace real information and insight with pretence. There are various kinds of fantasy that can get in the way of proper choices including:
The pretend-only fantasy. This happens when the person is not really 100 per cent committed to a goal, decision or behaviour that is necessary to obtain the optimal outcome. Their words are empty and devoid of action. So the personal incoherence is compounded.
The commitment-without-expectation fantasy. A person might show all the signs of being fully committed, but does not really believe or expect to be successful. Their low expectations are usually met.
The hidden-effort fantasy. This is a very common cause of incoherence. It is the failure to fully consider the actual effort required to reach the goal. It is a failure to take account of all the consequences of a decision. Many people will apparently commit to a goal because they do not consider the unseen costs. So the person might commit to and expect to realise a goal but is not realistic about all that is going to be necessary to actually achieve it.
The others’-effort fantasy. This is a tendency to make a decision contingent upon other people instead of yourself. It is requiring others to do things to make something happen. This fantasy is very common with people who have low levels of self-responsibility.
Coherence is about knowing all aspects of yourself – both the experiencing self and the reflecting self. Have you, for example, looked forward to something (say a holiday, or a date) and found the reality of the situation was not at all as you imagined? How often have you made a purchase you later regretted? Or wanted something but not put any effort into making it happen? These are all examples of incoherence that can be avoided. We will see that DSD helps to remove these kinds of incoherence and to improve our choices.
53. Choices do get made, even if we feel we don’t make them
Making the right choices is important for all of us in all aspects of living and working. ‘Decision-making’ is also accorded enormous attention and kudos in governmental, organisational and commercial settings. Good managers apparently do it well and company directors get remunerated for the ‘size’ and importance of their decisions (rather than, perhaps, how good these decisions are). Prime ministers’ choices change the world.
Yes, choosing is big business. Choices