By Katia Del Rivero

Good or Bad Decisions?
During this crazy February where we talk about uncertainty and how to face it, decisions are a fundamental subject.
Have you ever made a choice that seemed the best and later on feels like you were wrong? Or maybe you chose what wasn’t that great, but safe, and worked out amazingly?
Well — like Michael Blumenstein used to say — we have bad news for you: good choices don’t exist. We have great news: bad decisions neither!
In any case, choices are “future bets,” because no one knows with certainty what will happen next.
Some Myths Are About to Explode
From my perspective, is a myth that analysis and data lead us to good decisions. That enhances the probabilities for the decision to react the way we expect it in the environment of the data and analysis. It doesn’t mean that we ensure the future, nor the result. And it doesn’t mean — necessarily — that we’ll like the result.
Decisions exist, and they aren’t good nor bad. “Good” or “bad” is an evaluation that we make about the aftercome of the choices we’ve made. And sometimes we are to harsh with ourselves when we evaluate a decision from the past based on information from the future. Even if this information comes a second after making the decision.
We have lots of myths on choices that, besides their evaluation, are not useful to make us feel capable facing life and “navigate confidently in the sea of uncertainty life is.”
Let’s Do Something Good With Them!
If we start from the premise that there are neither good nor bad decisions, that decisions are just that, decisions. And that when we make them we tend to choose whatever we consider best. So instead of judging or devaluing ourselves about our decision, we should make something good with it.
It is to say, contributing in such a way that it turns the best possible way. If you married someone, contribute to turning that decision into a great home. If you chose a society, contribute in a way that your partner invited to contribute with you in that business. If you chose an investment, contribute to the investment to generate something you believe adequate. If you chose to have a baby contribute for this kid to grow in a great environment. If you chose a job contribute to making your employer feel invited to collaborate with you. If you chose a collaborator, contribute for that collaborator to feel invited to offer his/her talent.
And if after you’ve looked for ways to make it work, you can’t find what you were looking then — again — “do something great with this choice, including the possibility to change it if it’s not what you expected.”
The Myth of “Until Death”
Maybe you are thinking, change my decision? How could I move if I said I’ll be there? I would never do that, I gave my word! I promised my parents! Or millions and millions of phrases.
Even if — in my construction — “I gave my word and I can’t change it”, “until death tears us apart”, “knotted knot can only be unknotted cutting it” are ideas with a nice origin because we sought for people to maintain their accords and survive together. Once again, placing a way of life in front of life itself can be very challenging for life itself.
The forms are useful because we use them to help us keep ourselves alive and if possible to enjoy life. “Tie life to one form” limits its purpose.
In this sense, if the choice you made, the word you gave, the commitment you made is not something you want or can keep right now, the best thing you can do is change it. If you die to try (and by die I mean literally and other ways of “living death,” like not enjoying life) you won’t be able to keep that word either.
So creating new possibilities, exploring others that you didn’t know before and they today seem interesting facing experience, creating new scenarios is completely valid.
In my experience, people that have complicated situations feel trapped facing their decisions. When they finally explore new scenarios they end up more satisfied, fulfilled and with better bonds.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
One time we were at the office and we needed to make a choice. I had an alternative and Michael had a different one. Both seemed valuable, interesting, and with great potential. I wanted to make a scenario analysis and Michael said we should play “rock, paper, scissors”. I nearly die facing that proposal. How could we make a choice like this? And then I learned a lot of what I share here and I understood that it didn’t matter if we are committed for a choice to work (through our contributions, including the contribution to change the choice if it didn’t go as we expected).
In the same way, if you made “a good choice” and someone who didn’t agree sabotages your contributions or puts in evidence the challenges the new process means, is very likely for that “good choice” to be transformed in “not such a good decision”, because its more important the heart of every single one of the participants, than the possibility itself.
Finally
The more capable we feel to make choices and make something good about them — including changing them — the more likely it is for us to feel safe and confident facing the uncertainty of the present world, life, and future.
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