Are you a decision maker?

Despite what you might think, the simple answer is yes, you are a decision-maker. Decision-making is part of creative thinking, and according to a creativity test conducted by NASA, 98% of people are born creative, but only 2% remain creative by the age of 25. Creativity is therefore unlearned over time but can be reacquired.

To regain your creative thinking, you must break routine thinking patterns and treat your thinking the same way you treat your health and appearance. When your old way of thinking fails you, it’s time to put in extra effort to think differently and break the pattern. This applies to both your business and your personal life.

Whenever you face a challenge, never make a decision in the heat of the moment. Always take your time and follow a structured decision-making process to avoid heading in the wrong direction. One key step is a thorough understanding of the challenge. As Albert Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” This emphasises the importance of understanding the problem clearly before attempting to solve it. This stage might take a significant portion of your decision-making time and involves studying the impact of the problem on yourself and other concerned parties, whether they are individuals or a business structure. Understanding the problem means getting to its root rather than just observing and recording its symptoms.

The understanding stage is followed by the ideation stage, where you generate potential solutions to your challenge. There are many ways to generate ideas, from classic brainstorming sessions to consultations with veterans and other ideation tools, which we will discuss in future articles. Once you have an exhaustive list of potential solutions, you move to the evaluation stage, where you differentiate between sensible and non-sensible options. Sensible solutions are those that are feasible from a technological standpoint, affordable, and economically viable. If your solution affects community members, ensure it respects their culture, habits, and traditions. Depending on the budget required for implementation, you might proceed directly to scaling or opt for prototyping and testing the solution on a smaller scale to avoid significant financial risk.

At each stage of the process, you can consult your team, close circle, or even an external consultant if you feel you have run out of ideas or means of implementation. We are human, and sometimes we excel at some stages of the process while needing support in others. This approach helps minimise biases, fear of financial risk, routine thinking patterns, and wishful thinking.

In the end, always remember that if you don’t feel comfortable with the decision you made, it is most likely not the right one. A decision must be reasonable, but it must also be ethical and morally acceptable

Dr. Youssef Lamaa