Rational Decision Making Process - Essay Example

As briefly explained in one of the course readings, intuitive decision-making is most viable when time is of the essence in arriving at quick recommendations and when the decision-maker has established vast experience and expertise that warrants knowledge of the potential outcomes of the decision to be made. Still, most women have been proven to have practiced making decisions based on gut feel and relying merely on perceptions.

In one’s personal experience, decision-making follows the rational decision-making process where there are stipulated steps that are structured and to which one is expected to adhere to. This has been proven to be most effective in one’s personal and professional experiences in life due to the objectivity it accords me, as the decision-maker, to see various options from a factual perspective; and to have generated the most effective recommendations that have been agreeable or amenable to those affected by the decisions on a longer time frame. Likewise, as emphasized in the discourse entitled “Why Being Certain Means Being Wrong” there is an evident feeling of “certainty, in the form of the calm feeling of knowing, (which can ultimately) replace the tension of not knowing” (par. 3). Thus, through rational decision making, one ultimately attains a feeling of sublime calmness in the certainty that the selected course of action is the one that is most plausible, more leaning to accuracy and correctness and the least fallible to error.

In a more generalized form, one’s rational decision-making process follows these crucial phases: (1) defining or clearly stating the problem (not the symptoms but the root or main predicament); (2) identifying one’s alternative courses of action (which also includes not doing anything, which is called status quo; and other viable options); (3) using cognitive or analytical tools in evaluating each option (such as enumerating benefits versus costs or advantages versus disadvantages, at the simplest form; SWOT analysis, if needed; ethical, moral and legal considerations; stakeholders’ interests; and the potential net value of the outcome that is perceived from each alternative); (4) selecting the most appropriate course of action after weighing in the outcomes of evaluations; (5) implementing the recommended action; and (6) monitoring the effect of the decision made.

            Overall, one firmly asserts that the preferences in using one decision-making technique over another depending on the factors within the control of the decision-maker and the simplicity or complexity of the problem. If the decision-maker is part of a management team within an organizational setting that requires more comprehensive and structured techniques, then, one has no option except to adhere. If the decision-maker is just a simple, happy-go-lucky fellow faced with a yes or no problem, then, the technique would cater to the need. In sum, it is the journey toward making the choice that makes decision-making both challenging and rewarding.