A632.9.3.RB_CliftonEmily

Emotions play a huge role in decision making on any level and in every way. As humans we make every decision based on how we “feel” about it. We chose to enter into marriage because of an emotion: love or we get divorced as a result of the evaporation of the same emotion. We select a job or a candidate based on how we feel about them and whether those feelings are positive or negative there is a huge impact on performance and attitude.

For the times I have made decisions and was confident about them my performance has been above average, my attitude toward the decision is positive, and I find fewer errors are made. Example, my decision to take this job was one I made with confidence, and two years later it still shows. I perform among the top percentile of my peers; have consistently above average numbers in enrollment, matriculation, and retention rates. I am passionate about education and this also drives the relationships I have with my students. They read the confidence in me and trust me to make decisions for their futures and they know that I have their best interest in mind and will always steer them in the right direction.

In the instances when my decision has been made with a lack of confidence the opposite of above is usually true. I am anxious and tentative with my actions and speech. I am more likely to make mistakes if I am not confident or passionate about what I have decided. If presented with an important personal decision I make a choice based on what I think the other person wants or needs rather that what is best for me, my lack of confidence shows and typically the other person can sense my hesitation and does not trust me fully.  This is something I am experiencing right now in my home and my mate can read it in me. He may not know exactly what is up, but he knows something is off.

This may sound silly, but as a woman I can relate. When you purchase a pair of shoes or an outfit you must take into consideration how you feel about wearing it. If you feel good about yourself then when you wear it everyone will see you exuding confidence. If you are uncomfortable it will show no matter how hard you try to hide it. 

A632.8.3RB_CliftonEmily

The Cynefin Framework model was introduced to assist management (or anyone really) with delegating and determining which decision to make when presented with a conflict or choice. It is made up of four quadrants:

1.       Simple (known): consisting of repeating patterns and consistent events.

2.       Complicated (knowable): consisting of patterns that are known, but not always apparent.

3.       Complex: there are no correct or concrete correct responses, can be unpredictable

4.       Chaotic: very turbulent and volatile, no clear patterns or relationships

I believe these are nice little boxes that we can dump problems and decisions into to help us determine which ones to tackle fist. I honestly feel that this is a trumped up version of the Eisenhower Matrix which categorizes tasks (and decisions) in four quadrants:

     

1.       Not important, not urgent (simple)

2.       Urgent, but not important (complicated)

3.       Important, but not urgent (complex)

4.       Urgent and Important (chaotic)

If you compare them  you can really see the similarities:

You can see where the similarities are. If you imagine your desk, would you want it covered with assignments and papers in no such order? No, of course not. If there is no order to your daily life, nothing will get done. When you use a organizational system such as the Cynefin Framework or the Eisenhower Matrix, it rearranges all that paperwork on your desk into neat file folders ordered in importance of completion.

There are several ways the Cynefin Framework can help to facilitate improved context for decision making; obviously it helps us to identify which decisions are important, it can aid is categorizing and organizing the decisions to be made and problems to solve into more manageable portions. The Cynefin Framework can help to determine which tasks and decisions can be delegated and which we need to tackle ourselves.

References:

Levine, S. (2009). Getting to resolution turning conflict into collaboration (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Snowden, D.J., and Boone, M.E. (2007). A leaders framework for decision making. Havard Business Review. Retrieved from http://www.mpiweb.org/CMS/uploadedFiles/Article%20for%20Marketing%20-%20Mary%20Boone.pdf