T10.2 DECISION MAKING

To be or not to be? That is the question! We act and form opinions from mental processes in our brain. These processes are influenced by biases, reason, emotions, and experiences in our lives. Decision making is a vast topic which encompasses various components. One specific type of decision making shared universally amongst humans is cognitive decision making.

Scientifically, cognitive decision making refers to the mental processes used to make decisions. These processes include attention, remembering, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and decision making.[1] In a business aspect, cognitive decision-making can be considered the primary activity for both management and their employees. Managers are responsible to make the right choices and the coworkers are responsible to do things correctly. As leaders, managers must work efficiently to reduce or eliminate mistakes and waste.[2]

The human decision maker is considered similar to a computer information system. For example data must be compiled and processed into the system to create information. The most important issue for a decision maker is the outcome of decisions. Obviously, what we think or feel is not relevant to the physical world, but they influence our perspective and value judgments.

Decision making is an essential part of life, whether it’s business or personal. One must learn how to make timely, well-considered decisions to be successful in this day in age.

References:

1."Cognitive Decision-Making." Meta-Knowledge Engineering and Management Server for Intelligent Socio-Cognitive Systems (updated Edition). Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .

2."Overcoming Serious Indecisiveness." University of Baltimore Home Page Web Services. 25 Feb. 1994. Web. 09 Nov. 2011. .