Streamline Training & Documentation: Think Twice

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Think Twice

"Go with your gut." That's often exactly the right approach to making a decision, especially if moving too slowly will put you at a competitive disadvantage, or you're reasonably confident you'll be able to adjust your course as you go along.

But there are also plenty of situations where pausing to think again gives you your best pay-off.

A prime example is hiring. Yes, it can be clear within seconds of meeting a candidate that the person is not what you need. On the other hand, even if you're initially rather dubious about a candidate, you're better off taking time to explore the person's ideas, track record, and approach to handling situations relevant to your business. You may very well end up giving the nod to someone who at first blush did not seem suitable.

Whenever a situation is ambiguous -- whether it involves hiring, or designing a new product, or solving a problem, or anything else where you're aiming to optimize -- taking time to think again is likely to improve your outcome. This despite what you may have heard in oversimplified discussions of management practice, such as careless summaries of Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink.

Try asking yourself, "What if the actual state of affairs is exactly the opposite of how it seemed to me at first?" This helps you identify the range of possibilities to consider in order to reach the best decision. It can also stimulate creative thinking and generate an approach that you would have overlooked if your initial gut reaction had carried the day.

For a good discussion of when and how to use intuition in decision-making, I recommend this article by Thomas A. Stewart and Nancy Einhart.

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Labels: Critical thinking, Hiring and getting hired

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