Making Decisions as a Manager

Managerial Decision The last big decision I made involved seeking a new job. My goal was to find something that paid better, but also something I enjoyed. I did not want to just choose a job I hated because I could make money at it. That is never fun, and can lead to burnout and other problems that might not be experienced with a job that is more enjoyable.

Of course, making a living is also very important, so I could not simply ignore how much money this new job would pay me and any other kinds of benefits I might get with it. I could have used the rational decision making model to improve my decision because it would have forced me to look at the entire process much more logically. That would have been important and also would have helped me to make the choice that would have been best for me in the long-term.

In order to understand why it would have been so helpful for me to use the rational decision making model, it is important to understand what that model provides. The rational decision making model is designed to provide an approached to decision making that has both a structure and a sequence (Robbins & Judge, 2007). It helps people use consistent thinking and good discipline in their decisions. The first thing that has to be done is identifying the opportunity or the problem (Brooks, 2002).

Then information can be gathered and the situation can be analyzed. When I decided that I wanted to seek out a new job, I was clear on the problem in that I did not like my job, but I was not really clear on why that was the case and on what kinds of opportunities for growth and development were available to me.

If I would have been more careful with that step, I would have gathered up a lot more information and would have been able to analyze it better and more carefully. That analysis would have then helped me make a better choice. Developing options is one of the most important parts of the rational decision making model (Brooks, 2002).

It is the one managers have to be careful with, though, because there are some options that are very realistic and other options that may be over the top in many ways but are still, technically, options. Thinking outside of the box is important, but if a person gets too far outside of that box it can be very confusing when it comes to trying to determine what options are viable and what should be avoided.

I could have used that step in the model to my advantage, because I was not clear about my options.

Basically, I saw my two choices as staying at my old job or getting a better job, but I did not stop to consider what "better" really meant, or how I might have been able to make my own job better suited to me without the need to leave my job and company to work with another organization or to try to work at something similar but in a slightly different capacity.

Managers who are interested in helping companies move forward and/or who are interested in staying relevant and valuable in their industry and organization know that the work they do is very important. A great deal of that work will have to do with making decisions, which includes taking all the information and options given and evaluating alternatives in order to make the right decision. It is only through the process.