Decision Making
A bit of luck can play a part in a company’s success. And the old yarn “the harder I work the luckier I get” has equal merit. But ultimately the ability to make the right decisions will prove to be the greatest contributor to an entrepreneur’s success. Many in business claim being pragmatic, willing to compromise, relying on your intuition and going with your “gut feeling” are all effective mechanisms for making decisions. These ideas have become inculcated into society in general and are a common practice in the business world as well. To improve decision making, these essays apply objectivism to avoid these common intellectual pitfalls
Two questions are involved in his every conclusion, conviction, decision, choice or claim: What do I know?—and: How do I know it?
Ayn Rand
1 – Reason vs Authority
As an entrepreneur you will make countless decisions on a daily basis. Some will be small, some big. The net balance of making the right decisions will ultimately determine the success of your venture. So, how do you know if the decisions you make are the right ones? The answer to this lies in the answer to an even more fundamental question, how do you know what you know, and how do you validate it? Do you know because your parents told you? Your teachers told you? The scriptures told you? Your friends told you? Your business associates told you? …
2 – Pragmatism vs Practical
Being pragmatic is commonly viewed as a positive attribute for an entrepreneur to possess. This is because being pragmatic is generally defined as being practical, rational and fact based. Decisions and actions based on facts and reason underpin all of Objectivist thinking. By this definition these are good attributes for an entrepreneur to practice. However, this is not the proper definition of pragmatism. This might be a moot point if pragmatism meant essentially the same thing as being practical, and this was just a semantic issue. It is not. In fact pragmatism is the opposite of being practical. It is…
3 – Cognition vs Intuition and Emotions
Decision making is not all long term but a daily if not hourly or minute by minute activity of every entrepreneur. How successfully you make these decisions is equally important as they accumulate toward achieving long term success. Consider the following mental exercise. If I ask you what is 2×2 you would intuitively answer 4. If I asked you what 27×43 was you would most likely not be able to answer that intuitively, but would rather have to use either a calculator or write out the calculation to give the answer 1,161. Now if I asked how you felt about…
4 – Compromise vs. Negotiation
It is often thought that the ability to compromise is an essential trait of the successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are often asked to compromise in negotiations when buying or selling, working with others, developing a product or service and countless other situations. Compromising sounds reasonable; but is it? First, let’s be clear about the definition of compromise and why it is not the same as negotiation. Negotiation pertains to exchanging values, as in, “we negotiated a win-win deal”. Negotiation seeks agreement where both parties seek a “win-win” conclusion based on value given for value received. Compromise pertains to relinquishing values, as in…
5 – Doubt vs Certainty
The statement “I am sometimes wrong, but never in doubt” may seem comical, but actually has some validity. It is reasonable to doubt that which you are uncertain of, but unreasonable to doubt that which you are certain of. Skepticism can cripple an entrepreneur’s decision making with doubt. It is not uncommon to hear people in business say “one thing I am certain of is you can never be certain of anything.” It should be clear the very statement itself is a logical contradiction. How can you even be certain of that if you claim you cannot be certain of…
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