Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one’s awareness of one’s ignorance Anthony de Mello Let me start by telling you a very rare story first. One fine day in September 1816 just outside the famous museum in Paris - The Louvre, just outside the courtyard there were a couple of young boys playing. On the other side of the courtyard, a young physician named René Laennec was pacing up and down deep in a thought. The morning sun was just starting to bask on the city and Laennec was supposed to meet a heart patient in the hospital. After pacing for sometime René Laennec started his journey towards the other side of the courtyard and was still tensed. On the way when he just crossed the two kids playing in the lawn something strange struck him. He stopped and was keenly looking at what the kids were upto. One of the kids was tapping the end of a long wooden plank with a pin. On the other end, his playmate was crouched down with his ear pressed against the edge of the plank. The first kid asked did you hear anything and the other guy nodded - a BIG no. Then he stroked the pin a little harder and the other raised his thumbs in a big affirmation. Laennec was immediately struck with a thought. “It is a well-known acoustic phenomenon that If you place your ear against one end of a wood beam the scratch of a pin at the other end is distinctly audible." It then occurred to him that this physical property might serve a useful purpose in the current case which he was dealing with. Immediately on reaching the hospital he immediately asked for a piece of paper. He rolled it up and placed the tube against his patient’s chest. He was stunned by what he heard next. He was able to hear the beating of her heart with far greater clearness than I ever had with direct application of my ear. René Laennec had just invented the stethoscope. Laennec's simple invention instantly changed the field of medicine. For the first time in history, physicians had a safe, unbiased way to understand what was going on inside a patient's body. They didn't have to rely solely on what the patient said or how the patient described their condition. Now, they could track and measure things for themselves. This brings us to the question which you are wondering - what has this story got to do with Self-awareness? This brings me to today's topic - We often tell a lot of lies to ourselves and to spot this we require a tool. Just like the stethoscope for a physician, we have a tool called SELF-AWARENESS. Want to know more? Let proceed
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It's easy to make good decisions when there are no bad options ROBERT HALF I like to think of myself as Kamal Hasan - not for his looks but as a rational person. I am sure all of us think of ourselves as rational people while in reality, we are not. We are all irrational (not always, excluding marriage decisions) and are always prone to mental errors. For a long time, researchers and economists have believed that humans make logical, well-considered decisions. But in recent decades researchers have uncovered a wide range of mental errors that can potentially derail our thinking process. What that study has found is that few times we make decisions purely with the help of logic but at many times we make decisions purely out of emotional, irrational, and confusing choices. Psychologists and behavioral scientists are having a field day with the concept of mental errors. They like to coin many new terminologies such as "mere exposed error", "induced errors" or "the narrative fallacy" etc. I am neither an expert nor want to go deep into the science of it. My only aim is to convey the messages in a very simple term. I don't want to get trapped into these scientific jargon's, instead, I want to just explore about the mental errors, how we get it and what should we be aware of. Let us first define what is decision making? Decision making is just what it sounds like: the action or process of choosing an option from the available list of options. Sometimes we make logical decisions, but there are many times when we make emotional, irrational, and confusing choices. Why is decision making so important? Decision-making is an integral part of modern management. Rational or sound decision making is treated as a primary skill requirement for managers. Every manager takes hundreds of decisions subconsciously or consciously making it the key component in their work. Decisions play an important role as they determine the success of both organizational and managerial activities. This process is continuous and indispensable component of managing any organization or business activities. Having said that, decision making is not only for management but is applicable to everyone. We certainly have to make lots of decisions in the course of one's life - both long and short term. And the error in judgment is much costlier than in a management role. Hence it becomes one the most important skill but unfortunately is not taught in depth in our curriculum or in the work environment. It's left to the individual's survival fitness. So to help many for a start I am elaborating on the top 5 common mistakes that happen to everyone. Are you ready to go the distance with me? Note: A Bit Lengthy Blog. |
AuthorVasudevan is a Leadership Mentor and an Executive coach. I run an online website geared towards helping creative entrepreneurs and future managers to build their dreams. Archives
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