The art and science of making better decisions: Lesson 2

Welcome to the second week of 'The art and science of making better decisions' boot camp!

Last week we took the first step towards becoming more confident and effective decision-makers by examining the ‘paradox of choice’, and what we learnt from Professor Schwartz was somewhat surprising: more choice doesn’t always lead to better decisions.

We’ll spend this week getting up close and comfortable with ourselves as decisions makers in an attempt to understand the context of our decisions and our capabilities as decision makers. We’ll also learn more about ourselves and our personalities through the Big Five personality trait test.

Required

1. Read an introduction to this week's topic (2-3 mins)

For Socrates and his followers, the unexamined was a life not worth living.

While the philosopher may have been going for more than just a tinge of dramatic effect, the saying certainly holds true in the realm of choices. In fact, a decision-maker that has yet to come to terms with their own personality, key strengths and personal limitations is unlikely to make successful decisions.

The above is true for two main reasons: context and capabilities.

Context Choices do not happen in a vacuum. Instead, they are made on the proverbial stage of life amidst a myriad of competing priorities, factors and interconnections.

Of the numerous actors on stage the decision-maker is the most important piece of context of all.

Our decisions are guided by our morals, ethics, experiences, desires, ambitions and emotions much more than rational reasoning, which makes understanding ourselves and how we fit in with the wider context of the decision a prerequisite for making truly informed decisions.

Capabilities As individuals we all bring different things to the table. Our unique characteristics, key strengths and personal limitations are a major driving force of how we approach and implement decisions.

Our capabilities also change how we feel about the decisions we take.

One particularly thought-provoking study by Professor Rebecca Shiner showed how simply categorizing us into ‘maximizers’ (people committed to making optimal decisions) and ‘satisficers’ (people less worried about perfection) can tease out significant differences between decision-makers. In the study, maximizers tended to be more likely to regret their initial choice than satisficers were.

Maximizers were also much happier when their decision was not reversible at all, showing us that sometimes having more time to think things through leaves us worse off than calling the shots on the spot.

While you may not have spent a lot of time thinking about who is in the driver’s seat when you make decisions, the good news is that getting better acquainted with ourselves is as easy as it is therapeutic.

2. Watch a video on personality psychology (15 mins)

In this TED talk, Professor Brian Little takes us on a tour of personality psychology and helps us untangle the puzzle of personality. After watching the video, you might be tempted to take a deeper dive into the OCEAN that is within you, and lucky for you this week’s activity allows you to do just that!

3. Get to know your personality traits (5 mins)

For this week’s activity we will be doing the Big Five personality test in order to better understand our traits in terms of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (i.e. OCEAN).

Thanks to the Open-Source Psychometrics Project, a simple survey that takes 3-8 minutes of your time is all you need to learn more of what personality traits drive you.

4. Reflect on your results

Just like last week, we ask that everyone submits a one-paragraph reflection using this form (if you would like), considering how you leverage your highest-scoring personality factor in your daily decision making.

If you can't access the form, or if you would prefer, you can write your reflection down on a piece of paper.

Take your learning further

1. Week 2 book club

In his book The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt reflects on how intuitions and emotions drive our decisions on morality and much more.

2. Read an article (6 mins each)

The article When Decisions Satisfy and When They Upset from the Association for Psychological Science showcases Professor Shiner’s work in an easy-to-access manner, explaining how, e.g., differences in negotiation styles can lead to different outcomes.

The main research source for this week is Maximizers, Satisficers, and Their Satisfaction With and Preferences for Reversible Versus Irreversible Decisions by Rebecca L. Shiner.

3. Watch a video (7 mins)

This video, What is personality, from Practical Psychology is a bite-sized entry point to the science of personality.

Picture credit: Pexels