You were probably guilty of ‘overconfidence’ in the last business decision you made?
We are all guilty of overconfidence.
We naturally assume that we know more than we actually do and jump to conclusions, thinking we can accurately predict the future.
Preparing to be wrong is just admitting that we cannot predict the future.
A recent study showed that when doctors expressed complete certainty that a diagnosis was correct, they were wrong 40% of the time.
So, if a well-trained professional making a decision in their specialist area is wrong a substantial portion of the time, then maybe you could be wrong some of the time too.
In the case of the doctor you would be inclined to seek a second opinion but how do you ensure your decision is open to evaluation?
Ask yourself this…
How many times in your business have you done one of the following?
- Weighed up the likely outcomes of your decision – best case, worst case and most likely outcome?
- Created room for error – built a buffer into the decision you have made?
- Written down the potential problems/pitfalls of the decision?
- Created a trip wire – for example ‘if we don’t make 10% profit we will re-evaluate’?
When you do any number of these things you are futureproofing the decision you make and therefore making the right decision more likely.
Click here to ensure that your decision-making process is strong enough…
