Monday Morning Motivational Message - Making Bad Decisions

How often do you make a bad decision?

What causes you to make the wrong or a bad decision?

In his book, Legacy, author James Kerr writes, "Bad decisions are not made because of a lack of skill or innate judgment. They are made because of an inability to handle pressure at a pivotal moment." 

History is filled with bad decisions.

Napoleon was defeated in his attempt to conquer Russia due to his generals exaggerating his troop and supply strength because Napoleon would reprimand and often demote anyone who brought him bad (even if it was realistic) news. 

More recently, in 1985, Coca-Cola introduced New Coke. The company taste-tested the new formula with over 200,000 people. Unfortunately, they forgot to research if consumers wanted a new flavor of the iconic beverage. It turns out, they didn't and the company lost tens of millions of dollars on the short-lived product introduction.

According to a LinkedIn article written by Darren Matthews titled, "Bad Decisions: 5 Rules To Help You Make Bad Decisions, here are five things to help you make better decisions:

1. Don't make important decisions when you are emotional, tired, hungry, distracted, or in a hurry.

2. Don't let anyone define the problem for you.

3. Get your information as near to the source as possible.

4. Always ask, "What do I know to be true?" Filter out incomplete information.

5. Reflect on your decision to learn what worked and what didn't.

Nobody is perfect. We all make bad decisions. By knowing yourself and making rules and decision-making principles, you can minimize the amount of bad decisions you make.

Please leave me a comment about the principles and techniques you use to make better decisions.