Emotional blocks to effective decisions

• Emotion cannot be eliminated totally from decisions, nor should you want to.
• Enthusiasm and self-belief are necessary for commitment.
• Negative emotions and attitudes can however block objective judgement:-
  • Anger - blocks your ability to see other perspectives.
  • Anxiety - significant stress undermines clear thinking.
  • Hurt - when attacked you can become entrenched and inflexible.
  • Excessive liking for someone - leads to biases in this direction.
  • Excessive dislike - can blind you to a person's good points.
  • Comfort zone - leads you to make choices you are comfortable with.
  • Power - a need to dominate and win leads you to reject the views of opponents regardless of the merits of your view or theirs.
  • Halo effect - 1 positive aspect of an option can blind you to negatives.
  • Horns effect - 1 negative feature blinds you to positive aspects.
  • Over confidence - can blind you to real risks of failure.
  • Under confidence - paralysed by a need for impossible certainty.
  • Need to be right or in control - always selecting your option even when colleagues have better ideas.
  • Feeling threatened by others - undermines ability to see the merits of suggestions from ''young hot shots'' lacking your experience.
  • Haste - closing down discussion too quickly.
  • Self-deception - saying you are looking at negatives when determined to discount any view that is contrary to your own.

Steps to avoid poor decisions based on emotional biases:-

• When faced with an important, risky and potentially controversial decision, run down this list and ask yourself if any emotional blockages apply to you.
• Get input from others willing to challenge you. Genuinely listen and seek supporting evidence for their contrary view.