From: L. Michael
Hall
2018 Morpheus #
25
June 6,
2018
While I wrote this article as
one in
the series of Decision Making on
Neurons, I thought I should send
it
to Meta-Coaches ... so next
time you
coach decision—
this one is for you.
BEYOND PRO/CON
DECISION-MAKING
In Meta-Coaching we use the
Axes of Change as our first and primary model for enabling people to make
intelligent, robust, and ecological decisions. Specifically, we use the second
axis, The Decision Axis which is based on the meta-program of reflective—
active. To that end, we invite a client to reflect on the pros and
cons of a choice. What are the advantages if you make that choice? What are
the disadvantages? Typically this leads to a whole list of reasons why a
choice would be beneficial and reasons why a person has to be cautious
because it wll have another set of things that will cost the
person.
This pro-and-con orientation in
decision-making is what we all use. To a great extent it is how we naturally
and inevitably think. That is, we default to thinking in terms of choices and
contrasts, values and dis-values, this or that. Simultaneously, we also think
in terms of the reasons why I am for or against something. For this
reason, it makeptos perfect sense to start by asking for the advantages and
disadvantages. But the Pro/Con list is just the beginning. There’s much more
to do if you are to generate great decisions and especially if you want
to create highly intelligent or smart decisions.
What potential problems could
there be here? Ah, yes, human reasoning! And why? Because when we reason—
even if you have been highly trained in effective, clear, rational, systemic
reasoning—you still are liable to the cognitive biases and also to the cognitive
distortions and fallacies. If you are not aware of that, check out the newest
book from Neuro-Semantics, Executive Thinking: Activating Your Highest
Executive Thinking Potentials (2018).
A Well-Formed
Decision
NLP introduced the idea of a
well-formed outcome some 40 years ago, and from that I developed a
Neuro-Semantic Precision Template and from that created a well-formed problem, a
well-formed solution, a well-formed innovation (all are now in the book,
Creative Solutions, 2017) as well as other well-formed patterns. So how
about a Well-Formed Decision? Doesn’t that make sense if we want to make
great and intelligent decisions? Given that, here is a list of questions—
questions within certain categories — that enable a person to construct a
well-formed decision.
The Well-Formed Decision
Questions
The Subject of the
Decision: First identify the
subject of the decision.
1) What is the
decision you want or need to make? What are your choices?
2) What will the
decision look like or sound like? When you make it, you will say
what?
3) Why is it
important to make this decision? (Repeat several times with each
answer.)
The Contextual Situation
of the Decision: Decisions, like
every other experience occurs in some context. Identify the specific context
for the decision under consideration.
4) When do you
need to make the decision? What time factors are
involved?
5)
In what area of life is this decision relevant? (Where) How does it (or could
it) influence other areas of your life?
6) Is anyone else
involved in making the decision? Are you the sole decider?
(Who)
The Required Actions of
the Decision: As an experience, you
have to do something to make a decision, identify these actions
even if they are the micro-actions of thinking and
feeling.
7)
What do you need to know to make the decision? What information do you need to
gather and from who or where? How much information do you need? What else do
you need to do to make or take the decision?
The Inner Power
(Capacity) for Making the Decision:
Given that action is required for a decision, then inner ability is also
required.
8)
Is the information available now? How much information is currently available?
If you don’t know, what probably would you estimate? Is that information within
your control to access? If not, then who has access to
it?
9) Do you have
the capacity to get the required information? To process
it?
10)
Have you ever made a similar decision in the past? What did you do that enabled
your decision-making?
The Planning Process of
Decision-Making: With big decisions
and decisions that will forge a new or long-term direction for life, you will
probably want to plan it in order to manage it over time. Identify how you will
do this.
11)
How do you plan to gather the information and order it so you can make a
decision? If others are involved in the planning, information-gathering, or
deciding, what is your plan for integrating them into the
process?
12)
What cognitive biases, distortions, and fallacies may be in the information you
gather? Do you know how to question, check, and clean out the biases,
distortions, and fallacies? Do you What feedback will you want and/or need to stay on plan?
The Supportive Resources for Deciding: As an experience, it can be supplied with sufficient resources or it can lack them. Identify the resources that you want to round-out your deciding.have someone on the team who can do
that?
13)
How will you monitor a long-term decision that requires ongoing observation and
action?
14)
Is there anything that can or will stop or interfere with you getting the
information, formulating it, and making a decision from it? What potential
risks are there? What risk management skills do you need? How much risk is
there involved? What contingency plans have you set up?
15)
What resources do you need so that you can do this effectively and
intelligently? What external resources? What internal
resources?
16)
How will you test the final decision to make sure it is ecological for you? How
will you determine if it will create any long-term unintended
consequences?
Concluding and
Deciding: How will you bring
closure to the process of decision?
17)
How will you know when you are ready to make a decision? When you make the
decision, what will be the convincer for you? In what representational
system?
18)
What will be the evidence that you have made a decision and ready to move
forward? Will it be written, stated aloud, confirmed with someone else, or
what?
Want more? Check out the
books—
Coaching Change: The Axes of Change (2004/ 2015)
Creative
Solutions: Creativity and Innovation (2017)
Executive Thinking: Activating Your Highest Executive
Thinking Potentials
(2018).
L. Michael Hall, Ph.D., Executive
Director
Neuro-Semantics
P.O. Box 8
Clifton, CO. 81520
USA
1 970-523-7877
Dr. L. Michael Hall writes a post
on "Neurons" each Monday. For a free subscription, sign up on
www.neurosemantics.com. On that website you can click on Meta-Coaching for
detailed information and training schedule. To find a Meta-Coach
see www.metacoachfoundation.org. For
Neuro-Semantic Publications --- click Products, there is also a catalog
of books that you can download.
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