One of the reasons we are so drained as leaders is that we suffer from the convergence of ambiguity fatigue and decision fatigue. The former happens because we are constantly dealing with incomplete information and data that causes us to wonder what is causing what to happen, i.e. a constant analysis of causality. The later comes from having to make so many big and small decisions in such a rapid succession. While in the past decision-making was a single moment of rational analysis based on knowable and quantifiable variables, it has now become an endless and dynamic process influenced by multiple variables that are often our outside our circle of influence or control.
Marshall Goldsmith in his book, Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts - Becoming the Person You Want to Be, (Crown Business, 2015), writes that decision fatigue is a state that leaves us with two courses of action: “we make careless choices or we surrender to the status quo and do nothing.” As he continues, “It’s one thing to engage in depleting activities, but there’s another dimension: how we behave under the influence of depletion. Doing things that deplete us is not the same as doing things when we’re depleted. The former is cause, the latter effect.”
The solution to this situation is to reduce our cognitive load. In the world of decision-making, some processes and systems are automatic rather than controlled. With automatic decision-making, an answer or solution is achieved with little or no mental exertion. Think basic math like 6 x 2 = 12. With controlled decision-making, it takes effort and requires one to go through a series of steps before a conclusion or answer is achieved. The current problem and often one that is directly connected to being drained is that nearly everything ends up being controlled decision-making, which continues to be a source of depletion.
In order to leverage automatic decision-making, we need to move certain decisions into the automatic decision-making category. For example, in my professional life, I choose to hire a computer specialist to help me deal with technology issues. I hired someone to handle all of my website work rather than do it myself. I have a travel agent who has solved multiple travel related challenges, and a business accountant who does my taxes. All of these issues, I could have done myself, but, in the end, I realized that it would just make my life simpler and easier if I handed these problems and their related decisions to professionals who could work quickly and effortlessly to solve these problems. As an old Russian proverb stated, “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.” By reducing my cognitive load, I could focus on what I do best which is to coach, teach, and consult.
FYI: To be continued next Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment