Volume 5, Issue 5 - May 2004

The Harvard Business Review reported, "Making decisions is one of our most important jobs. It is also the toughest and the riskiest. Bad decisions can damage a business and a career, sometimes irreparably."

As business professionals, we always need to be using our skills to ensure we are making the right decisions. Bad decisions affect our ability to keep our job or to even stay in business. They can significantly affect our careers.

How are you ensuring that you are always making good decisions? Are you involved in any formal or informal networking groups? Do you belong to any associations? Does your company provide continuing education? Do you attend company training events (or do you tell yourself you don't have time)? Are you just trusting what you've learned in the past and your "gut reaction" to help you make good decisions?

It continues to amaze me how many people re-invent the wheel every day. In this process they often make some very bad decisions. With a small up-front investment in time, they could save themselves a lot of decision time by learning from the experiences of others.

Many companies follow the same "limited-thinking" thought process and do not provide sufficient training, networking or educational opportunities for their employees. Shame, shame I say! Regardless, if your company doesn't pay for these opportunities, seek them out yourself. It is worth your own time and dollar investment to keep your business skills current and useful. What will happen if your company doesn't need you any more? You will look back at your 'excuses' about why you didn't do anything and realize this was a very bad decision.

On the other hand, those who are proactive go looking for information and may become overloaded with advice. Everything from "go vegetarian" to "high-meat protein diets are best," or "do work at home to get the important things done" to "never allow yourself to take work home." We are consistently being given a multitude of choice. We hear conflicting advice as well as corroborating advice. In order for us to be successful we need to take risks and make decisions based on this advice.

What do we typically do with this advice? Listen and then ignore it. Are you guilty of attending continuing education programs, workshops or seminars after which your notes get piled in a corner and are never looked at again?

Why do we do that? Sometimes it feels as if we are drinking from a fire hydrant. We need water, but we drown ourselves in this water. The next time we are thirsty, we are hesitant to go back to the fire hydrant. Are you pulling away from getting additional information because it has felt like drinking from a fire hydrant? Are you being given so much information about the decisions you need to make that you are paralyzed with information?

Instead of avoiding the fire hydrant, why don't we decide to drink just what we need instead of trying to drink it all?

I encourage you to decide what skills and information you need. It could be as simple as basic time management or conflict management skills training - or as complex as needing to attain a university degree. Once you decide to take action and start searching for new information you will find it. If you know what you are looking for, it is easy to find.

When don't know what you are looking for, it is like drinking from a fire hydrant.

Rhonda Scharf (Finniss), CSP is a Certified Professional Speaker, Trainer and Author and President of ON THE RIGHT TRACK - Training & Consulting. Rhonda is available for training and keynote speeches for your organization. Call today at (877) 213-8608 or e-mail Rhonda@on-the-right-track.com. Why not take a moment and sign up here for her complimentary quarterly newsletter.