The cadence of decisions
Today we want to eat chicken. Half breast, in three steaks, grilled and well seasoned, with a salad and if I may, with a Lager Beer in the appropriate glass. We have to go buy it, so we tell our son to come with us:
- Let’s go for the chicken
- No, I’m playing right now
..minutes later
- Let’s go for the chicken
- No, I need to pee
.. minutes later
- Let’s go for the chicken
- No, it’s just that… I don’t want to
And so the morning passed, until it was time to go to school, get ready, leave. Today it’s mom’s turn to take him, so dad will go get the chicken.
- Are we now going for the chicken dad?
- No, you already have to go to school
- But… I want to go with you for the chicken
- Sorry
And he too is sorry. In fact, the feeling jumps him in such a way that he cannot contain his tears. But it’s not quite crying, it’s more like a sob, a spasm from the stomach, like hiccups, just as uncontrollable and just as chaotic. I take a moment to calm him down, but there’s no way for him to go with me for the chicken, there’s no time. It was his decision.
He is a child, not even 5 years old, I understand. What about us? Have we done the same at some point? In business?
Of course!
We are making decisions all the time. Deciding which person to hire, what to devote time, money, attention to. Deciding how to talk to a client, or a collaborator, or a supplier, how much and how to pay, which business to accept and which not to, which tool to use, which dream to abandon. Every moment, every second a decision, based solely on what we want and need at that moment, and with the false illusion that we can take the experience as the ground to decide on what has not yet happened.
There are those who decide better not to decide anything, because, well, it’s freaking scary. There are those who inform themselves and do a whole pseudo-scientific analysis to decide and those who only follow their wishes. I think that the variable common to all of these options is still congruence. As long as the cadence of decisions subscribes to a single rhythm, to a single train of thought, at least the mind will be clear enough to make the next decision, and the next, and the next. Just don’t contradict yourself.
It is just an opinion, like so many, that can be extrapolated to business, personal life, as a couple, economy. If you decide to listen to it of course.
