A632.7.4.RB - Collaborative Decision-Making

Reflect on the role of collaboration and getting to resolution in the process of decision-making. Rarely, if ever, do our decisions affect only ourselves. Consider the importance of getting other stakeholders involved; how can they help you make a better decision for all? Detail a specific situation where you are faced with the decision, describe the process you went through and the outcome you were seeking. Identify 5 ways stakeholder involvement can help you make better decisions. Did you achieve your objective? Looking back at the decision you made and its consequence, was there anyone else that would have added value to the process? Identify 3 ways you may use this learning experience to make better decisions in the future?

In our class discussion, one of our class members said that in approaching the situation, it is better to be a neutral party. At a past job, I was passed with the duty to head hour recruitment process for next year's staff. At the time we had about 14 staff members, 4 which we were sure we're not returning for another year. This was either due to disinterest or graduation, as it was a student position. I was very excited to begin the search for new staff, as we had had problems over the past few months with staff members who were not performing up to par. Some of them were leaving by choice, but I was sure there were a few whose supervisors were dissatisfied with their work. Working with the supervisors, a few names were discussed in which replacements would possibly be needed. With my supervisor, I devised a plan recruit a diverse candidate pool which included moving away from the characteristics of the student employees which we have historically had trouble with putting on schedule and working special events, due to their participation in extracurricular events and desire to participate in continuously held social activities. We found out this information through step 2 of 7 of Levine's cycle resolution, allowing staff members to tell their story. What I heard from them were stories for staff members switching shifts to go to parties and participate in non-constructive social activities. Social media posts showed that while supervisors were being told that supervisees were leaving town to go to conferences and workshops, the workers were elsewhere.

I originally thought that the only stakeholders involved in the situation were four coworkers which also served as supervisors of the potential staff we were searching to hire, and my supervisor. My supervisor and I were very much on the same page as far as recruiting more diverse candidates. It seemed as if our staff was becoming a clique of people from the same background, with the same interests, and some of the supervisory staff played into this dynamic. Those who did not participated in these interests were deemed an outgroup, and were usually those who ended up covering shifts and working more overall than the majority. At first, it seemed that these staff members who were the most hardworking were fine with continuously helping their fellow staff members. In hindsight, I believe they thought they were simply leading the team. As the treatment continued, however, the staff members started to feel as if they were being taken advantage of. Suddenly they realize that those who were always switching schedule placements with them were not for filling their portion of the deal. I felt for these employees, particularly as the past college student who always seemed to carry my team;s projects. I had become accustomed to the situation and came to realize, as Smith states in her article on  'the lazy employee', “by pointing out that it’s not fair, we just make ourselves feel bad and the situation doesn’t change” (Smith, 2013). With one employee, she had switched so many shifts from the current semester to the next, when she quit, she had only worked half of the shifts she was required to, and two other workers were now responsible for about 25% more shifts than the other employees. Alas, they still tried to tune them out and focus on their work (Smith, 2013).

Only through listening to my coworkers who were in this clique did I realize this mentality throughout the staff, which could only be erased through new hires. This refers to Levine's step 1 of 7 in the cycle resolution, developing the attitude of resolution (Levine, 2009). Because of the history behind the formation of this group, my supervisor and I realized that we would not want to recruit anyone who personally knew any of our current employees, as this is how the current staff came to be. Many of our staff members were good friends at their college, and had passed the word around that our institution was an "easy place to work," a secondary responsibility, and that there would always be others to fill in the shortcomings of the underperformed. These statements were in direct conflict with the desires of our department institution, as I pointed out to my co-workers (Chambers, 1998). It was our duty, then, to keep our best employees and add to them. As a classmate quoted in our discussion, “the content of each side’s story is the crucible that holds the potential for a solution honoring the concerns of all parties” (Levine, 2009). As a leader, I needed to find the most efficient way to resolve our conflict.

I had a vision of what was taking place presently and how it was affecting the people we serve. As Levine states, it is important to clarify revision before I moved forward with what needed to be adjusted and what was missing (Levine, 2009). The sheer nepotism was disturbing to our employees who were dedicated to the position and who were being taken advantage of. In considering these employees as stakeholders, I changed my guidelines of not hiring those suggested by our supervisees; I believed that our highest performing staff members would be able to attract high performing staff members. They would also be able to tell us who, from their experiences, would only add to our staff situation (Smith, 2013). In figuring out what was missing, which was the high-performing staff, I was able to put myself, my supervisor, and (some of) our staff members on the same path to success.


References

Chambers, H. E. (1998). Conflict resolution. Executive Excellence, 15(10), 6. Retrieved from      

   http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/204633448?accountid=27203Levine, S. (2009). Getting to resolution: Turning conflict into collaboration. San Francisco, CA:
   Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Smith, Jacqueline. (2013). 12 Tips For Dealing With A Lazy Co-Worker.
   Accessed at http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/08/01/12-tips-for-dealing-with-a-lazy-co-worker/

A632.6.3.RB - The High Cost of Conflict

Reflect on a personal or business situation in which the cost of conflict was significantly greater than you would've preferred. Analyze the situation in relation to Stewart Levine's 10 principles of new thinking (p. 46). How would this have changed the situation? Could it have reduced the cost of conflict? What lessons did you learn from this exercise?

The cost of conflict represents a resource drain of huge proportion and a source of great unhappiness and discomfort.

In the old way of thinking, the principles were: scarcity, wasting of resources, problems issues and emotions, fostering conflict, righteous bravado and posturing, short-term adversary, logic, secrecy, winning, and deferring to professionals. The new thinking principles are: believing in abundance, creating partnership, being creative, fostering sustainable collaboration, becoming open, forming long-term collaborations, relying on feelings and intuition, disclosing information and feelings, learning throughout the resolution process, and becoming responsible. The cornerstone of the first new principal of thinking is abundance. This is because it is difficult to negotiate and create win-win situations without believing that there can be a conclusion in which both people are satisfied. 

A lot of people have difficulty with this because they believe we live in a dog-eat-dog world, where people will do anything to be successful, even if what they do harms other people. Because of this, they do not want to invest in others thoughts, feelings or future. People like this are simply too selfish to realize that even if they win, they lose in the long run as a team or organization. This creates a circle of competition, distrust and revenge that shades growth and destroys businesses.

As a worker I pride myself on being efficient with my time in order to give back to my place of business in ways that I see could use change. I enjoy joining boards and committees that align with my interests and the interests of the institution, as they tend to gather passionate and diverse entities together from across the organization. I have had supervisors that did not appreciate my ability to balance work with other activities. I have even had supervisors who attempted to control what I did with my time outside of work. Of course, most have been a victim of the micro-manager, who wants to know every move an employee makes - I have found it is usually done to figure out how they are able to accomplish more than their supervisor can.

Behind each happy worker is a competent supervisor - a boss is a person who should have never been hired and is only there because they've kissed the right butt or have successfully mastered blaming others for their shortcomings. These supervisors are bosses (which I use as a slur for those with power who overexert it to the detriment of their company) do not believe in the abundance of impact that could be done with proper planning and organization. They did not realize that many of my new ideas and ways of improving my skills came from collaborating with others and sharing best practices, from and with those with years of experience. At times, I believe that many supervisors wish to be the only mentor their workers have, the sun in their system. Because of this, they can never appreciate the skills others bring to their job; they are usually the reason why good people leave. They become possessive and jealous of those who are outgoing and who appreciate the experiences of others. 

Sadly, the conclusions this type of treatment assumes are not productive. Bosses are the reason why there is high turnover at a company. Bosses cause lack of productivity, encouraging workers to remain stagnant, un-creative and scared. Bosses will usually have years in a company and will never leave, because they are bullies who have found a comfortable, accepting home where HR is lacking and coworkers do not see it worth the risk to point out the obvious. I have learned how to spot these people - sadly they exist just about everywhere. Those under them are downtrodden and hopeless. Sometimes they have found ways to "get back" at their company, through hiding from work, talking badly about it or intentionally causing it harm - all of which show how one person can be the cause of a company's reputation going to the trash bin and an overall wasting of resources in time and people.

I intentionally try my best to be the complete opposite of such supervisors, encouraging collaboration and learning from my supervisees in all departments within our organization. I have always found it easier to know and appreciate one's resources if one is dedicated to fulfilling ones duties then supporting the initiatives of others and helping where there is a need. Building bridges is more effective than building walls. Isolation makes people paranoid that people are out to get them, and people notice this, which leads to distrust of them.

Instead of bosses thinking "Why is this employee getting to know others outside of the department - they're trying to learn skills to benefit themselves," they should be thinking, "I like the initiative this employee is taking to learn about other departments - they''' bring back information I have yet to follow-up on," or, "I can't wait to see how this employee will bring the skills they learn from the other departments to ours."

The cost of conflict includes direct costs, productivity costs, continuity costs, and emotional costs. Direct costs involved mediators for a disagreement, usually lawyers. An example of productivity cost is the amount of money a company loses because those in a situation have either slowed or halted their work because of the issue. Continuity cost is the way that situation changes the dynamics of the team, are there in the way they function together or the loss of team members. The emotional cost is the damage caused to the victims in the situation, and the wounds that may never heal. It can be difficult for those suffering in a situation to bounce back after a resolution, whether positive or negative, simply because the incident occurred.

References

Levine, S. (2009 ). Getting to resolution: Turning conflict into resolution. (2nd edition). Williston, VT: Berrett-Koehler Publishers 

Levine, S. The Many Costs of Conflict. Mediate.com. Accessed at http://www.mediate.com/articles/levine1.cfm

A632.5.5.RB - Protected Values in Decision-making

Reflect on the concept map that you created in the previous exercise and consider the Dan Gilbert video from module one. Discuss your protected values and how far you are willing to go to support those values. Explore the level of protection associated with each of your major values identified in the concept map and detail your thoughts on each. Finally, discuss how those protected values would influence your decision-making.

After reading about protected values and working on the concept map it has opened my eyes on what I feel are my protected values. I had to think about what my protected values were and how I was and am willing to go to protect them. I would say that 100% of what I do is reflective of how it will affect society as a whole, either directly or indirectly.
I chose peaceful protest/assembly, marriage equality and religious freedom as my protected values, and I reviewed how I exercise these values every day.

Though I have not protested recently, I am very active in letter-writing campaigns, calling the offices of representatives to speak on or out against proposed legislation, and enjoy speaking my mind online. At times, I feel that I need to do more - it has become quite easy through the internet to feel like one is making an impact without really doing anything. I donate to causes that I am very passionate about, particularly women's rights issues. I need to trust that my money is going to a cause, and not into someone's pockets. As Julie Irwin and Jonathan Baron discussed in "Values and Decisions" in Chapter 14, people may say they are very passionate about issues, but when it comes to actually supporting those passions, their money, time and energy tends to fall short. I believe that highlighting events in which citizens are prohibited or punished for gathering peacefully through as many means as I can - by face-to-face conversations, Facebook posts, tweets, blogs and letters - I am living out my passion.

Marriage equality has been a topic I have been very outspoken for, for as long as I've known it was an issue. My first discovery of this issue was when I was in grade school, and I saw a CNN story on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," a policy barring gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. When I asked my mother about the details of such a rule, she explained that stating one's preference in dating and intimacy would get them harassed, ostracized and physically assaulted in the military. It changed the way I felt about the Armed Forces. Both of my parents are veterans; I only saw military personnel as heroes. I could not believe that people with such high stature would stoop so low as to bully others who have sacrificed just as much for this country as they have. It was offensive to me that a professional would find it moral or entertaining to hurt another professional. At that time, I had no understanding of the progress the military had made from its inception - I assumed that the military had always been open to all citizens, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation. 

In high school, I joined a multicultural Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally (LGBTA) group. During my membership, I joined GLSEN, Inc., the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, a national LGBTA organization that fights the discrimination of LGBT people. This organization solidified my association with the plight of gay people. I started the Day of Silence at my high school, a passive protest against anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. We petitioned the school to allow the group to decorate a hall for the annual International Week, and with four other high schools, petitioned the School District of Philadelphia to recognize October as Gay and Lesbian History Month.

In much the same way as LGBT issues are a passion, religious freedom is as well. I was raised in a household where all religious text was available. Growing up in a multicultural community, I had friends who were from a plethora of backgrounds, with various religious beliefs. My mother was involved in the Jewish community and most of my friends were Christian or Catholic. The experience of attending multiple religious services allowed for me to gain an appreciation of all backgrounds, and I enjoyed figuring out my own beliefs through learning about others and questioning my own. I went through phases of being religious, non-religious spiritual, and non-spiritual. In my teenage years, I aligned myself with atheist and agnostic beliefs, and even came up with my own religion that I named wrote documents about. When I started college, I began to research the Unitarian Universalist church, and I presently feel that it best describes my beliefs about the universe and provides a way to converse with others about their beliefs. At times, I identify as a follower of Judah and I am questioned for a multitude of reasons. I do not "look Jewish.: I do not wear a Star of David. Some have an "ah-ha" moment as they reference stereotypes I fit which they note as proof that I am Jewish, like being thrifty and enjoying financial wellness books. I am assumed to hate those who are Muslim, which is a huge offense. It saddens me that some try to align with me over a presumed hatred of others. At these instances, I must not only fervently disagree with their sentiments, but pull out the soapbox to discuss the reasons why xenophobia and religious hatred are going to be the downfall of our country and of civilization. Going to bat against hatred is a sport we should all participate in! Like our lives, our minds are always (or at least, should be) changing and expanding with each piece of new information. I am happy to be open-minded to the love the world provides us.

A632.4.5.RB - Deception in Negotiations

During the course of negotiations, people often misrepresent information to gain at least a temporary advantage. For example, a seller may fabricate existence of another interested buyer or a buyer may misrepresent the price and availability of an item from a different vendor. Reflect on deceptions in negotiations and describe four ways to evaluate information during negotiations. Relate an example of a recent negotiation in which you have been misled and one in which you may have overstated a claim.; define how far you would be willing to go to leverage your position.


One of the most prevalent experiences I have read about and witnessed that aligns with deception in negotiating is the used car selling process, particularly from person-to-person (as opposed to buying from a dealer). 

There are several reasons for buying and selling through the private party process. If the car is already paid for, it can usually be sold for more than a dealer would give the seller. A dealer may be more willing to take a less-than-perfect car off a seller's hands, but the dealer not going to do it at a premium. A seller can always expect to get more than the wholesale price. Even if someone owes money on their car, they still may be able to make a profit after a private sale, or at least make enough to pay off the car.

When I was looking for a car, I really wanted a vehicle that looked clean and newer than it was. I paid close attention to rust, dents, paint jobs, new tires and delicately used interiors. I wanted a CD player, leather seats, clean floors and automatic windows. I found that a lot of the cars I viewed only had one or two photos - some of them were of the same side of the car. When I requested additional photos, I received close shots of specific parts of the car. On two occasions where I went to view the car in person, the opposing side of the vehicle which was unseen in photos had obvious accident damage or had been vandalized. The seller had no way of explaining such an omission from the ad and the phone discussion before I traveled. As Wharton notes, "a negotiator must estimate the cost of detected deception. This can include... reputation costs" (Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. E., 2001, p. 192). As soon as I arrived home, I made a request to the webmaster to remove the ad. It was a waste of money and time to travel to see details which should have been exposed online.

I am currently helping a friend sell her car, and the process involves some deception I have taught her. This teaching came from my experience selling personal items (furniture, electronics, etc.) on CraigsList during my many relocations over the years. I let her know to push the virtues of the car, such as the optional equipment and accessories, its desirability in the marketplace, and any recommendations and awards by used-car guides or magazines. If there was a big issue, address it, but downplay it. I also told her to publish a price that was 50% higher than she wanted for the car, and its defects would drop the price (The Federal Trade Commission, 2014). Though many articles state that 25% above the expected sell price is fine, I believe it is harder for women to sell their cars alone, as buyers think women know less about cars and can be pushed around a bit more. This is as far as I would go to deceive someone, as it is part of the car selling process. Let the potential buyer point the problems out. I would never encourage someone deny or lie about them. I would not sell someone an unsafe car.

As a car buyer, I have looked at several venues to buy cars and read thoroughly on how to compare products. The evaluation process should consist of feature-by-feature comparisons of the cars; the evaluation of trade-offs among competing models; and cost comparisons (Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. E., 2001, p. 196). I conjure up a group of knowledgeable friends and task them with reviewing and evaluating specific ads, as they affect each persons’ areas of interest and expertise. One of my friends is a tinkerer; he enjoys fixing his cars and prefers cars that make it easy for him to engineer with simple tools. One of my friends is all about the year, make, model and mileage comparisons - he believed he can edge up the last-ability of a car without knowing anything else but these details. I sit this group of friends in front of a stack of printouts of cars I'd like to make an offer on and they will call other friends who may own or work on the different cars, and they check references with sellers about past owners and service records. They also check outside references, like Carfax, Kelley Blue Book and TrueCar to review salvage alert and accident records.

References

Cars.com. Price Your Car Right. Accessed at https://www.cars.com/sell/how-to/price-your-car-right

The Federal Trade Commission. (2014). Buying a Used Car. Accessed at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0055-buying-used-car

Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. E. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. New York:

Wiley.

Kelley Blue Book. Step 1: Find Out How Much You Can Afford. KBB.com. Accessed at http://www.kbb.com/car-advice/car-buying/step-1-find-out-how-much-you-can-afford/

A632.3.4.RB - Reflections on Decision-making

Shoemaker and Russo discuss the hazards associated with "frame blindness" and how to guard against it. Discuss three ways you can avoid "framing traps" and provide a detailed example of each from your life experience. Could you have framed each situation differently? What did the exercise teach you about complex decision-making? What additional tools or "frames" would've helped you through the process? How much "risk" do you feel was in your recommendation? What did you learn about yourself through this exercise?

Framing theory suggests that how something is presented influences the choices people make. Frames are abstract notions that serve to organize or structure social meanings. This way of thinking is the reciprocal of rational choice theory, the process of determining what options are available and then choosing the most preferred one according to a consistent criteria,

There are three types of frames:

• problem frames generates solutions; 
• decision frames decided amongst clear alternatives; and,
• thinking frames utilize deeper mental structures by relying on years of experience. 

Frames sound convenient, but can also lead to making false assumptions. They can form mental "traps" that cause decision makers to make uninformed and/or ineffective decisions.” (Shoemaker & Russo, 2001) Frame blindness is when people set out to solve the wrong problem because they have created a mental framework for their decision with little thought. That causes them to overlook the options or lose sight of important objectives.

At work, it may be necessary for me to alert students who are under a certain amount of credit hours that they cannot stay in residential housing on campus. This is a policy which all students are aware of, but we do always have students who believe they will slip through the cracks. When there is a student who has struggled for a few semesters and is now either under credit hours or is taking none, I need to confirm this with them and give them the opportunity to prove their level of credit hours or they must find off-campus housing or return home. 

As a student affairs professional, it is my preference to see that all students are taking the necessary amount of courses to stay at the University. However,  none of the correspondence I must make is the first. Not only have these students been notified by their advisors and colleges that they were suffering academically and needed to seek resources, they have ignored emails stating they were expelled or suspended. 

As a college student, I had many classmates simply disappear after weeks of apathy and absence in courses. I always wondered what their plan was. Were they going to submit all of their homework by email? Make A+ grades on every test and final? Beg for mercy for a D+? Or did they know more than we all did? Did they realize that a lackadaisical attitude was the easiest way to "get out of the rat race" and pursue goals that had nothing to do with higher education? 

I can only imagine that many of these students have been on academic probation for a good deal of time and hid this information from their parents. How difficult it must be to confront the truth of their actions, when so much emotion and money has been invested. 

Though I am not a parent, I can only imagine the loss I would feel if my child called me after several moments of starting their higher educational pursuits, that they were dropping out of college. I realize many parents sacrifice a great deal to send their children to school, taking on extra hours at work or going without desires to guarantee that the tuition was paid in full. Many have even taken out second loans on their homes or made daring financial decisions that will affect them for years to come. 

However, as a professional, it is also my desire to make sure they are not acquiring debt when they are not dedicated to acquiring a degree in the process. It would be most unjust for us to charge them for a college education without them being able to benefit from one. In the long run I know it is better to have been the representative to say that the student cannot hide any longer behind hoping that no one will notice their failure, and allowing them to find a more definite route to success than to lay stagnant in place of educational development and progress.

We can avoid frames by: 

• Making sure we do not immediately accept the initial frame in our minds;
• Seeing problems in a neutral manner by replaying the possible decisions and balancing games and losses from different standpoints (Hoch & Kunreuther, 2005); and,
• Getting recommendations from others and examining the way they frame problems, and challenging them to see their possible decision from multiple standpoints

References

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

 

Russo, J. Edward, and Paul J. Schoemaker. Winning Decisions : Getting It Right the First Time. New York: Currency, 2001. Print.

A632.2.3.RB - Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier

We all want customized experiences and products -- but when faced with 700 options, consumers freeze up. With fascinating new research, Sheena Iyengar demonstrates how businesses (and others) can improve the experience of choosing. Identify four of the methodologies Sheena Iyengar suggests as methods of helping us improve our experience in choosing. Discuss the implications of two of these methods in terms of your own decision-making as an individual and a member of an organization. How else can you improve your ability to decide?


     In "Wharton on making decisions," Hoch and Kunreuther (2005) discuss how decision-making can be accompanied by systems which aid in choice. In review of the brick-and-mortar providers of choice, it is important to balance the joy of variety with the stress which develops from information overload.

Cut Out Options
     Less is more. By cutting out extra options, the choosing experience improves. Iyengar notes that while people may marvel over a plethora of choices, they are less likely to choose if there are too many to choose from. When people do choose from too many options, they choose in ways that simplify their option, which may disregard the benefit of diversification. As an individual, I am a big thinker, and I often find myself wanting to "do it all" instead of weighing options and cutting choices.      If I have the choice between making steak or salmon for dinner, and both are un-thawed, I plan to make surf-and-turf. My rationale is, "why wait?" At work, I am much the same way. I would rather try to make all event ideas happen instead of just one. I can admit that these kind of decisions often stretch me farther than I anticipate, particularly when I do not have the manpower. Learning to live by Matthew 6:27 is a goal: "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Realizing that there are still only 24 hours in a day is far more challenging than it should be. Noting pros and cons to each decision would help to make the road to choose easier.

Concretization, or Concrete Decision-Making
     Iyengar's third step discusses how people need to make options more concrete. This is done by seeing and feeling the effects of certain decisions, not just thinking about them abstractly. Abstract thoughts are open to generalizations, overestimating the profits of benefits or underestimating the risk, challenges and negative outcomes. As Iyengar discusses, "Why do people spend an average of 15 to 30 percent more when they use an ATM card or a credit card as opposed to cash? Because it doesn't feel like real money." 

     As an individual, I am much the same when it comes to money. In studying the financial wisdom of Dave Ramsey and Suzie Orman, I am learning to make my financial decisions more concrete. I collect and organize receipts from all of my expenditures so I can see how many transactions are made in a day and week. I have text messaging set so I can easily access the amount of money in my account. Though I am not to the point where I use envelopes to split my check into food money, insurance money, cell phone money, and otherwise (as Ramsey emphasizes), I have made it far more difficult to escape the ignorance of not knowing how much money I have or how much is spent (2009).

Utilize Categories
       Reflecting on Iyengar's example in cutting options in terms of financial decisions, "the more choices available, the more likely people were to completely avoid stocks or equity funds. The more choices available, the more likely they were to put all their money in pure money market accounts." Stocks is a category in which people generalize as risky; within this one choice, it is the goal of investors to find stocks which are profitable, as they have already resolved that anything deemed a stock is risky.

Condition for Complexity
       Conditioning for complexity involves making a decision from a grand list of choices - but doing so with pacing. Consumers want decisions, but are more likely to make them if the choices start small and increase over time, than starting large and minimizing options.


References

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ:      John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Ramsey, Dave. (2009). Dave Ramsey's Envelope System. daveramsey.com. Accessed at
   http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dave-ramseys-envelope-system/lifeandmoney_budgeting/

A632.1.4.RB - Multistage Decision-Making

In thinking about my decision making process and reflecting on the processes I use, I do believe I utilize similar practices in evaluating my own thinking. The questions managers ask themselves are:

• Am I being myopic?
• How appropriate is the starting analogy I'm using to solve a problem?
• What are the penalties for making an error?
• What am I learning from the feedback I am receiving?

As a supervisor for 27 direct and indirect supervisees, I recall asking myself the fourth question rather often. What am I learning from the feedback I'm receiving? First of all, I make sure then I asked for feedback often, but usually from my to direct supervise these. Is important that they see me as someone who is open minded and cognizant of my flaws. I keep an open door in eating them with their work and asking for input on my own work especially when it affects them directly. I realize that as a direct supervisor I have the most impact on  employees' experiences in my department and my organization. 

I take the responsibility making the office a peaceful place for them to work. I have to take initiative to make things better by avoiding an unfair and hostile work environment. I realize that spite is bound to ruin affected communication. I recognize their contributions and check on their progress in projects not by asking them where they are, but by asking what I can do to help them and congratulating them when they're on the right track to success. The decisions that one makes today can hope to make better decisions in the future (p. 60). 

I anticipate to learn from those I supervise. I am intrigued by multi-stage decision making because it respects the present and the future as equal. If today, and every day before today, I treated my supervisees as cherished portions of my professional and private life, it would hardly impact them if tomorrow I made a mistake that negatively affected them in only a slight way. It is because I have build up this credit of showing my desire to help them succeed that I can be forgiven for minor indiscretion in the future. However, if I treated them unfairly and disrespected them everyday up until now, one small then sit or gift would not change their opinion of me as a whole.

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.