Decision-making traps - Essay Example

Decision-Making Traps Back in my third year when I was in the secondary level, I recall havingto deal with a dilemma between a science research project our teacher highly preferred for our team to conduct and the one which my group claimed to have brilliant inclination of. As a team leader, I was confronted with a decision that I supposed must settle these conflicts of interest and since we ought to make a single choice, I opted for the team to work on our teacher’s proposal. Eventually, on convening members to discuss how this would benefit the team with the opportunity of being amply supported by the instructor and her resources to save us time and energy as well as the edge over other groups and high individual marks, everyone agreed.

In the process however, I had observed that my effort of persuasion to direct the group in arriving at this decision, which was mostly a gratification of personal favor, was futile in the sense that majority of the members weren’t cooperating to their fullest capacities. Knowing each of them personally, I was certain about the reach of their potentials especially when they had appetite for work so it turned out that the succeeding objective of my leadership, which was to stimulate members to perform in a fashion that we could exceed average expectations in and out of the group, gradually became impaired.

Primarily, I intended for us to practice executing around a task interdependently but since there were weak signs of self-motivation due to the nature of the project, I felt a growing sense of reluctance myself to push for the desired goal. Such excruciating instance of feeling ineffective in the midst of a crucial situation where I could not afford to deflect instructor’s good impression at the expense of team quality brought me to the realization that I could have fulfilled each objective had I adhered to the application of utilitarian principle.

On reevaluating the grounds or factors that might have affected our project on coming out with unsatisfactory results, I kept being brought to assess that my selfish interest bore a huge impact on the incident that overlooked consideration of a favor with one chief priority, my team. If it were possible to travel back in time to that scenario with the chance of making reparations over my course of action and primary decision, I would have sought establishing an aim that served interests of every party involved.

To avoid conflict and later occasions of halfhearted undertakings, I would have the team agree to taking both projects. Indeed it may consume huge quantities of our previous investment yet because the team gets the assignment with which their ultimate passion is attached, this consequently serves as the fuel for working efficiently with the other project. In the end I know that such effort of balancing concerns for the greater number would bring remarkable levels of fulfillment within my circle of influence.