TED Conversations

Ecaterina Sanalatii

Consultant, MooD International

TEDCRED 10+
TED Translator

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What is the key to smarter decisions?

My question to the TED community is what is the key to smarter decisions?

As individuals, how can we make smarter decisions in everyday life?
How is this different in business decision making?
Can we help others make a better decision or should this be done out of own will?

Topics: Decisions Smarter better life decision making
+9
Share:

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.

  • thumb

    Rick Ryan 10+

    • +2
    Oct 10 2012: Another thought about decision making. Decisions require both Management and Leadership skills, depending on the type of decision being made.

    A person in a decision-making position has four distinct resources available to them...Equipment, Money, Time, and People.

    The first three are limited resources, and they need to be Managed.

    The fourth resource...People...can be an unlimited resource depending on what you can get them to accomplish. It's not just the number of people you may have available (as in being "limited"), but whether you can provide them a means to motivate themselves to use their full potential. People are an amazing resource when you can get them self-motivated to achieve something. But this requires that you LEAD people, not Manage them. The failure of many supervisors making decisions about their "people resource" is that they try to Manage them instead of Leading them.
    • thumb

      Ecaterina Sanalatii 10+

      • +1
      TED Translator
      Oct 11 2012: So if we return back to the point of assessing the information we have (made by Colleen earlier in the thread), I think it is fair to say that the start of the journey to smarter decisions would be in assessing the four elements you've outlined before making the decision
      • thumb

        Rick Ryan 10+

        • 0
        Oct 13 2012: Absolutely. And even though I addressed those four resources as applying to a "supervisor of (other) people", it is just as important to realize that I, as an individual, am "the supervisor of myself".

        Even when making decisions that may only affect me, I need to evaluate all four of those resources as they apply to myself too before making a "smart" decision. I need to manage the first three resources as they apply to me, but "lead" the fourth resource...myself...because I myself am "a people".

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.