Decision-making Archives

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A first-aid backpack on the ground in a forest setting with mountains in the distance. Used as a metaphor for applying the principles of Dr ABC to managing high-pressure decisions at work

The Dr ABC of Managing High-Pressure Decisions – an Emergency Response Guide

A while ago in preparation for some volunteering, I took one of the best training courses I’ve ever experienced, the Outdoor First Aid course at the UK’s national outdoor centre at Plas y Brenin.

Amongst other things, we learnt the Dr ABCDE structure of first aid.

And during a recent coaching session we used that structure to help manage a seriously high-pressure decision that my client was facing.

First, here’s a reminder of my notes from that course:

Dr ABCDE:

Danger: Ensure safety for yourself, bystanders, and the casualty from further harm.
Response: Check if the casualty is responsive or unconscious.
Airway: Check if the casualty’s airway is open and clear.
Breathing: Monitor if they are breathing normally.
Circulation: Look for signs of life such as pulse, movement, or coughing.
Disability: Check again for unconsciousness, possibly caused by a neurological injury or condition (e.g. check pupil response).
Exposure: Expose and examine them for other hidden injuries, and ensure they are not getting cold.

If you need to manage a high-pressure decision at work, here’s my first-aid guide, using the principles of Dr ABC and applying them to great leadership:

D – Danger – assess first before acting:

Assess the situation and potential risks before taking action.

R – Responsiveness – ask others for their response, seek allies and advice:

Seek input, feedback, and advice from others to gather different perspectives and insights.

A – Airways – open up your choices about how to deal with the high-pressure situation:

Explore a wide range of options and possibilities before narrowing down choices.

B – Breathing – monitor the progress and vitality of the decision-making process:

Continuously assess the progress, outcomes, and indicators of the decision to ensure it is on the right track.

C – Circulation – take decisive action and stay committed to the chosen course:

Follow through with the decision, implement it effectively, and dedicate the necessary resources and effort to make a significant impact.

D – Disability – evaluate the potential drawbacks and unintended consequences of the decision:

Assess and monitor the potential negative effects or limitations of the decision, and be prepared to address them proactively. Learn from what’s happening.

E – Exposure – identify hidden risks and protect against unfavourable external influences:

Be aware of potential risks or obstacles that may not be immediately apparent, and take measures to mitigate or avoid them. Protect the decision-making process from unfavourable external factors.

What else comes up for you, when you’re faced with managing a high-pressure decision at work? What do you need to take into account?

How do you manage high-pressure decisions and what can we learn from a first-aid approach? Share on X

Thinking is more painful than electric shocks!

Why people often don’t get clear about their desired outcome or choose the best approach to take, before they act

It’s helpful for people to think about stuff more – particularly on why they’re about to do something and on how they’re about to do it. This is because:

1. Knowing why we’re about to do something – the outcome we want to achieve – is much more important than the first few steps, the tactics, that we might take to get to it.

It’s easy to grasp this. If your desired outcome is clear but the first few steps you take towards it don’t work, you can simply try some other tactics. But if you start from the tactics themselves without really being clear about where you’re trying to get to, then early failures tend to derail all your efforts.

(There are exceptions to this rule: notably if you’re stuck and don’t know what you want to achieve then just trying something – anything – can be sometimes be more empowering than staying stuck);

2. Actively choosing how we’re going to do something – the strategy, route or approach we might take – is a key determiner of success.

Far too many people simply do everything the same way, or the same way that they did it before, regardless of whether or not this gets results. It’s where that old saying comes from, “If you’ve only got a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.” Actively choosing the way to go about doing things, dependent on the circumstances and the people involved, creates flexibility of approach. And flexibility of approach in our behaviour is what leads to win-win.

Why don’t people do this kind of thinking more?
Get clear about their desired outcome and choose the best approach to take, before they act?

One part of the answer is in an article I was delighted to discover recently, headlined “People Would Rather Experience An Electric Shock Than Be Alone With Their Thoughts”!

A team of researchers have discovered that:

Left alone in a room with just their thoughts, more than half the participants described the experience as ‘not enjoyable’, most found it difficult to concentrate and reported their minds wandering. The negative aspects went up further in another group who were asked to repeat the task at home;
In one experiment people had the option of giving themselves an electric shock rather than complete the full thinking time. Even though they’d had that level of shock before and had said they’d pay $5 not to be shocked again, 67% of the men and 25% of the women involved chose to shock themselves rather than just sit and think!

You can see their article here: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/07/people-would-rather-be-electrically-shocked-left-alone-their-thoughts

My take on this is that human minds are evolved to deal with the real, physical world and with the web of social relationships that it takes to thrive. Disengaging from actual, concrete tasks and from real interactions with others long enough to do this kind of outcome/approach thinking is not something we’re naturally evolved to do. We have to learn it. And sticking with it long enough to get results ‘hurts’ and takes a lot of energy. Similarly, if you’re anything like me, there’s a whole load of failed adventures, thwarted ambitions and personal shortcomings that I’d really rather not think about at all, if only if wasn’t for the chance to improve things in future.

As my coaching practice evolves, I find that more and more people are saying things like: “I just need to hear myself think out loud”, or “I need some space to reflect on things and work them out, a kind of sounding board.” The hardest thing to do when I’m coaching in that kind of situation, is to do nothing but listen – but at least I don’t feel the need to give myself electric shocks!

Let me know if you’ve noticed any of this too please – or what you’re discovering about thinking, outcome-focus and behavioural choices yourself.

Please leave a comment below if they’re still open at the time of reading, or tweet me @nickrobcoach

Does it really hurt to think a bit more? Share on X

Six Things that Great Time-Management is about NOT doing

“#1 Will Surprise You!”
(It won’t – that’s just my silly way of highlighting that #1 is about NOT getting distracted.)

I’m writing this as the world re-opens, in stops and starts, post-covid lockdown.

And I notice that a lot of people are struggling with their Time Management. That’s understandable. So much of how we’re doing things now has had to change, that it can be difficult to find our old patterns of effectiveness. Worse, nearly everyone else is in the same situation, so that when my time-management misses a beat, it can affect several other people’s timing too.

In case it helps, here’s my six things to NOT do, if you want to have great time-management. None of these are necessarily easy by themselves, but if you or the people in your teams are finding it tricky to manage their time just now, these are the things to focus on first:

Not getting Distracted
A lot of great time-management is actually about Attention-management. Give some attention to how you can block, control, ignore or manage those things that might otherwise steal your attention – and therefore your time.
Not feeling Overwhelmed
One of the key reasons why people aren’t effective and don’t work at their best is the sense of feeling overwhelmed by all that’s required; to the point where it’s either difficult to see where to start, or hard to believe it’ll ever be finished. Start anywhere and go step-by-step if that happens.
Not being Bored
Human beings are generally hard-wired to go off and look for interesting stuff. I think it helps to not fight this. A meditation teacher once described the mind-sharpening part of meditation to me as being like training a puppy to sit still. When it wanders off, you can just gently bring it back again.
Not forcing Creativity
For most people, creativity is a process that requires inputs and some system of stirring around, before it can produce an output. Nothing wastes time quite like trying to force a high-quality decision to come or to force a deep insight into a knotty problem to arise without that process happening first.
Not confusing Immediate with Important
This is often the starting point for a lot of writing about time management. And with good reason, as it’s so easy to get into fire-fighting and so much harder to justify fire-prevention. But once you’ve dealt with the immediate priorities, don’t just focus on preventing bad stuff in the longer-term. What are the long-term benefits that you could be working towards too?
Not overlooking Sequence and Task-Dependency
Some things need to be done in a certain order to be successful. Or are dependent on other things happening first, before they can take effect. If you can avoid the paralysis sometimes caused by over-planning, then a project-management approach is often also a brilliant way to have great time-management.