BBC Documentary Critique: How to Make Better Decisions - Assignment Example

BBC Documentary Critique: How to Make Better Decisions Number ‘How to Make Better Decisions’ is a BBCHorizon documentary that highlights some of the common decision making tendencies in human beings as individuals and even within organizations, talks about certain flaws in those conventional decision making practices and equally talks up some decision making tactics that can be crucial and game changing in mankind’s every day life. The 48-minute long documentary begins by observing that human beings are regularly come upon thousands of decision making cross-roads each day. The documentary goes on to boldly assert that most of the decisions arrived at are always bad (wrong) decisions. It claims that while making a decision, one is fooled to assume that they have full understanding of the circumstances that lead to their decisions, which, according to the documentary, could not be further from the truth. The documentary, therefore, primarily sets out to show its viewers how to be more rational and how to successfully cope through life’s greatest decision making points. The following is a brief critique of the documentary. In the first instance, there are a group of four young men composed of computer enthusiasts, engineers and rocket scientists who are reportedly brilliant and intelligent in their careers and education, but have all failed to land girlfriends. Garth Sundem comes in to utilize his carefully crafted math equations to solve this (deciding on a girlfriend) and other complex human problems (such as buying the right pair of shoes at the retail store). In every circumstance, Garth weighs intervening factors against each other and calculates each of the friends’ chances of landing their preferred dates at the bar (except for Levi who turns down the technique and opts to go in and pursue his choice without any prior knowledge of his chances) (BBC Horizon, 2009). Garth’s calculations fail, however, as even those who scored the lowest probabilities (41% and 43%) land their dates, but in the end, there is a valuable decision making tip accrued from the whole ordeal. We appreciate the importance of analyzing a situation beforehand in correct decision making. This is proved by the fact that the ‘ignorant’ Levi was the only one who failed to land their date, as he later reckons that he should have analyzed things better before plunging in. this idea resonates with ideal good decision making strategies and management rules that advocate for proper analysis of a situation before making a rushed choice (Drucker & Maciariello, 2008). In the ensuing gambling scene, those who felt that they were losing out on the 30 quid were more likely to gamble than those who were content with the 20 quid gain. The documentary asserts that if a decision is taken to avoid a loss, it will be pursued with more boldness and aggression compared to decisions aimed at realizing gains. The assertion is further underlined by a study of the behavior of taxi drivers of New York City who dawn their tools immediately they attain their set targets for the day while they work overdrive on slow and unpromising days so as not to lose out on their targets. Neuroimaging scans also show that the emotional center of the brain called the amygdala is highly influential in decision making but must be tampered/ controlled with the frontal lobe which helps elicit better decisions (BBC Horizon, 2009). In the end, in order to make better decisions, the documentary urges caution when dealing with loss or gain situations, and implores the audience not to let emotions get the better of them at such times of decision making. Indeed good decision making requires that one must always remain objective and practical rather than emotional which can portend disastrous choices. It is important to substitute emotional drive with ideas and opinions from experts, colleagues and team-mates concerning the matter at hand (Gladwell, 2005). Writing down ideas before executing them, for example, and determining their usefulness beforehand is another touted decision making skill touted in the documentary that features the case of a partially brain damaged interviewee. She reckons that by writing down her plans and using alarms, she reduces the tendency to commit mistakes such as from forgetfulness, confusion and impulse buying at the supermarket (Gladwell, 2005). This point is intertwined with the first one that calls for deeper analysis of situations before making decisions, and additionally helps one adhere to the original sound plan. However, Harvard University’s Lars Hall and Petter Johansson fear that the brain can conspire against one. To prove this, they conduct an experiment in which volunteers are asked to pick one of two pictures as their preference. After making their choice, the pictures are secretly swapped and the participants asked to explain why they picked that picture (oblivious of the fact that it was not the picture they chose). Surprisingly, they still manage to explain why they selected the picture which they actually turned down initially (did not select). Lars and Petter thus correctly conclude that most humans show inability to admit a mistake and correct it (BBC Horizon, 2009). Instead of back-peddling, most pretend top have made the right choice and try their best to rationalize the bad choice. It is imprudent to dress up bad decisions as great ones. Good management skills require that one often analyze their decisions with an unending attitude of continuous learning, self-correction and improvement, even as they open up to extra ideas from their colleagues and partners in the spirit of discussion, positive correction and delegation (Drucker & Maciariello, 2008). Professor John Barge of Yale University warns that decisions can be subliminally manipulated through priming, such as from the media which fashions our ideas and thoughts on various issues of life. One of his PhD students investigates priming effects of temperature and demonstrates that warmer temperatures evoke positive feelings (that may even land one a job from a positively primed potential employer) where as cold temperatures result in negative feelings, rejection tendencies and unfriendliness. He concludes therefore that ideas can be primed where one may be easily vulnerable to accepting ideas or products from someone or a company that they like (feel warm about) (BBC Horizon, 2009). Good decision making therefore calls upon an individual to avoid such kinds of manipulation that benefits the manipulator at the behest of the individual who makes the decision. In management or life circumstances, manipulation must however not be confused with the ability to constructively liaise for opinion and discuss thorny issues with other stakeholders, yet for one to be a good decision maker, they ought to able to recognize manipulations and critically analyze situations before rushing into action (Gladwell, 2005). Lastly, in this thought-provoking and insightful documentary, Dr Dean Radin of the Institute of Noetic Sciences rightly warns decision makers against ignoring their intuitions since it is just what might give them the edge, especially in the face of competition, or might even save life (BBC Horizon, 2009). Moreover, at a decision making point, it is wise to predict certain future scenarios so that wise choices are made in view of such anticipations. In a business set-up, for example, good knowledge of the trends in business can allow increased investment on a particular aspect of business, say technology or online marketing, which could render them miles ahead of competition. However, it is folly to think that one is capable of precise predictions of the future, and so one must retain flexibility about their decisions and be able to go back on certain bad choices (Drucker & Maciariello, 2008). References BBC Horizon. (2009, August 1). How to Make Better Decisions. Retrieved June 2, 2015, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rirW96NM6HM Drucker, P., & Maciariello, J. (2008). Management (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: Collins. Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The power of thinking without thinking. New York: Little, Brown and. Read More