The more automatic our behavior becomes, the less likely we are to think about it because it is an unconscious habit. We are so used to doing that we rarely stop to think about our own behavior, the decisions we make and the impact it has. When we run in this auto-pilot mode, our brain deploys the law of least effort. Daniel Khaneman calls this Systems 1 or fast thinking. Systems 2 which is more slow, deliberate and logical is not active during this time.
I saw Systems 1 thinking in action in a recent experience with a large organization even with key decision making. I noticed that decisions were made without gathering enough data. Inputs were not considered even in multiple team meetings. Decision makers in the meeting were not listening, they were simply dismissing ideas and suggestions, reinforcing their point of view.
We all have biases. One of them being, the confirmation bias. If we believe in something, we look for evidences to support those decisions. Khaneman says if we believe the conclusion is true, we believe the arguments even if they are baseless. Khaneman also points out that when we are hungry or fatigued, we fall prey to bad decisions. In his book ‘Thinking fast and slow’ he gives examples about a study of judges who were less likely to grant parole when they were hungry.
Because our brain follows the law of least effort, it becomes imperative to pause and bring awareness to our thoughts, action and behavior.
James Clear talks about having a “point-and-call” system and Habits Scorecard for our personal lives in his book Atomic Habits.
One of the practices I have been following lately is maintaining a log of key decisions made during the day to reflect on my behavior and the decisions. I keep track of the decisions, when it was made, my mental state, factors I considered for decision making and impact of the decision. I run the decisions under a scanner of few questions.
I find reflecting on the decisions is a very powerful exercise to bring more awareness to our behavior, decisions and the impact it has. It helps us recognize what factors influence our decision making (mood, energy levels, hunger, etc) or is it an unconscious habit of not listening or anything else.
When we identify behaviors that don’t serve us and lead to ineffective decisions, we can then decide what behaviors needs change in order to serve the larger good.
It begins with bringing awareness to our behavior, habits and acknowledging the factors that influence decision making. Decision log helps us discover our ingrained default behavior so we can shift from unconscious behavior to a more conscious one that helps effective decision making.
Reply if you would like to have the decision log template and I shall send it across
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