Do you remember playing with a Magic 8-Ball as a kid? While it was fun to ask a question, shake the ball, and laugh at the answer, I do not remember ever going to the toy when I needed advice. Can you imagine sitting in an important meeting at work and watching your boss pull out his Magic 8-Ball to decide the fate of your organization?
Earlier this week, we looked at Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness for a guide to shaping our decisions. I think it’s probably also prudent that we tackle the ways in which we ought not to make decisions.
Just as silly as it sounds for your boss to make a decision based on the guidance of a toy, some communities have elected their mayors by casting lots when votes have ended in ties. While it’s practical, relying on luck to select your decision-makers may not be the wisest choice.
In the African nation of Cameroon, decisions in court cases can be based on the practice of “spider diving,” and those blessed to be spider diviners are highly respected members of their society. The practice involves having the diviner ask his spider a binary question – meaning there are only two possible outcomes. The diviner places a stick marked for one choice and a stone marked for the other choice in a hole along with the spider. Then he covers the hole with leaves, presumably to give the spider time to think. When he removes the leaves, he announces which object the spider has chosen, and the expert testimony is recorded for consideration by the judge. Imagine the outcome of your lawsuit being decided by a spider!
As silly as this sounds, I wonder what they might say about our practice of taking a flat piece of metal with a guy’s head on one side and a bird on the other side and making judgments by flipping it in the air only to see how it lands. Just the same, if you were in the Intensive Care Unit trying to make a medical decision for a family member and you pulled out a coin, the doctor might ask to talk to another family member before proceeding.
On the surface, you are probably thinking that you would never make select a college major, accept a job, leave a relationship, or invest your savings on the basis of chance. And I would agree with you – so often we make important life decisions without even consulting a coin or a spider or anything else. We regularly make big decisions just based on how we feel, what we think might happen, or what we are afraid of losing.
Unlike the guys who wrote Nudge, I don’t have a specific recommendation for how we should be making decisions. All I can offer is a simple thought; don’t rush. It hasn’t been intentional, but the recurring lesson is just take a moment. Instead of running into the decisions ahead of you, let yourself consider as many perspectives and outcomes as you need before you take a step. Fully appreciate the moment before you decide where to leap next.