Making decisions is at the core of management. To make rational decisions, a manager or an individual must gather as much information as possible about various options and their potential
consequences. Before making an important decision, one should evaluate the situation and take steps to prevent falling into decision traps. There can be several traps in decision making, such
as overconfidence, a lack of keeping track, or a failure to conduct a decision process audit.
In this activity, you will identify one recent professional situation or problem that required making a decision. The decision could have been posed to a group you were a part of, or it could have
been one you made alone. For example, you and your department must decide whether to change the way patient rounds are conducted due to multiple staff reporting burnout in recent
weeks. Since you may be using an actual professional or personal scenario, be sure to avoid sharing any personal or confidential information in your submission to protect others’ privacy, such
as names of people, places, and designation.
Avoid using a project-related situation or problem; projects require multiple decisions and are dependent on several other factors. If you do not have a professional decision example to
analyze, you may use personal experience instead, such as choosing a degree or certification program or buying a car or house.
This activity will help you understand your decision-making habits, which will help you complete the course project. There are no right or wrong answers to this assignment.
If you need writing support, you can access the Online Writing Center through the Academic Support module of your course.
Prompt
Complete the Module Two Decision Analysis Worksheet, and then reflect on your learnings and respond to the items in the prompt below in a separate document. You will need to submit both
the completed worksheet and your reflection.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
- Decision-Making Issue or Problem: Decision-Making Issue or Problem: Describe the issue or problem requiring a decision that you have selected to analyze. Do not state the decision that was or is being made to
solve the issue or problem.
- Analysis of an Issue or Problem: Analyze the issue or problem and its potential solutions using your completed Module Two Decision Analysis Worksheet to support your analysis.
Substantiate your claim by citing a minimum of one professional source.
- Decision Traps Decision Traps: Using the list provided in the Module Two Decision Trap document as a guide, discuss the specific decision trap(s) you and/or your partners encountered during the
decision-making process and the impact of those traps on the decision. Consider the following question to guide your response:
How could you or your partners have avoided any of the traps you fell into?
Full Answer Section
- The anchoring trap: This trap occurs when we become fixated on an initial piece of information and use it as a starting point for our decision-making. For example, if we are offered a car for $10,000 and we then see a similar car for $12,000, we may be more likely to buy the second car because it seems like a good deal. However, the second car may actually be overpriced.
- The sunk cost trap: This trap occurs when we continue to invest in a decision even after it has become clear that it is not going to be successful. For example, we may continue to invest in a failing business because we have already invested a lot of time and money into it. However, the sunk cost trap can lead us to make bad decisions in the future.
- The confirmation bias: This trap occurs when we only seek out information that confirms our existing beliefs. For example, if we believe that a particular stock is going to go up in value, we may only read articles that support that belief. However, this can lead us to make bad decisions because we are not considering all of the available information.
- The framing trap: This trap occurs when the way that a decision is presented influences our decision-making. For example, if we are presented with two options, one of which is framed as a loss and the other as a gain, we may be more likely to choose the option that is framed as a gain. However, the two options may actually be the same.
- The overconfidence trap: This trap occurs when we overestimate our ability to make good decisions. For example, we may be more likely to take risks if we are overconfident in our abilities. However, overconfidence can lead us to make bad decisions.
- The availability heuristic: This trap occurs when we make decisions based on the information that is most available to us. For example, if we have recently seen a news story about a plane crash, we may be more likely to avoid flying. However, this is not a rational decision because the probability of being in a plane crash is very low.
How to avoid decision traps
There are a number of things that we can do to avoid decision traps. These include:
- Be aware of the common decision traps. The first step to avoiding decision traps is to be aware of them. Once we know about the traps, we can be more mindful of our decision-making and avoid them.
- Gather all of the relevant information. Before we make a decision, we should gather all of the relevant information. This will help us to make a more informed decision and avoid making decisions based on incomplete information.
- Consider all of the options. When we are faced with a decision, we should consider all of the options available to us. This will help us to avoid making decisions based on the first option that comes to mind.
- Think critically about the information. When we are considering information, we should think critically about it. This means that we should question the information and look for evidence to support or refute it.
- Consult with others. If we are unsure about a decision, we should consult with others. This can help us to get different perspectives on the decision and avoid making a bad decision.
Conclusion
Decision traps can be a major obstacle to making good decisions. However, by being aware of the traps and taking steps to avoid them, we can make better decisions.