Checking out the presentation we were provided gave me a few handy descriptors for how I perceive my decision making style. Certainly, it would be fair to call it more cautious, rational, and open to input by others. Some might even say my decision making is a little passive, pending a push from external forces. One word that really stuck out to me was "agonize". Some every day decisions I can make rather quickly, such as when I go to buy cereal or bread I look past brand names and find whatever has the lowest unit cost and is the type I like to eat. On other decisions though, I take a very long time, such as when I'm deciding whether or not to buy a nice electronic gadget or other big ticket item. Even when I do agonize, I don't have the greatest of confidence, having been in circumstances where I gave, say, my first college and my new car a whole lot of thought and ended up not being especially happy (and thus having to make adjustments).
Now on consideration of opposite descriptors, I can think of active, internally driven, daring, irrational, and decisive. Only one of those words comes off as particularly undesirable (irrational), and the rest are generally regarded as good qualities, at least from the perspective of an American or Westerner.
Frankly speaking, to solve problems from the opposite of my typical approach might be rather beneficial in some circumstances, particularly being in a career field that sometimes demands swift and effective action on the part of anyone in a leadership position. Of course, irrational decisions are generally frowned upon and I would want to avoid doing that in any event. I could also still see usefulness in continuing to use caution, receiving feedback from others, and taking my time in decision making, as there are also long term projects with lots of resources in money, equipment, or manpower that may require thorough and deliberate action.
Thus, assuming I were to consciously move my decision making style towards one that could flex between deliberate and well thought, as well as rapid and decisive, I believe that would in turn make me a flexible leader better able to perform in a wider variety of situations, and in turn make me more effective during the course of our rapidly changing tasks and requirements. In short, although it would take some time and continued practice, I could move closer towards what I think would be considered an ideal decision making approach.
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