|||MAG||| August 16 - 22, 2008
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Does your heart rule your head?
It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence that could support this.
-Bertrand Russell
When you are caught in the crossfire between your head and your heart, stay moored and calm. Whether you go on a cerebral or emotional trip, make sure you get the best out of it. By Kieeran Manral.
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Are you a heart person or a head person? It’s a question you would do well to ask yourself. After all, with so many decisions being taken in one’s life, it makes sense to know what one’s style of decision-making is. After all, so much hinges on taking the right decisions in life. Rational and emotional decision-making are considered to be independent of each other, when in truth they are inextricably interlinked for most people, with one or the other dominating in different situations. In fact, psychologists argue that emotions are essential for good decision-making. Being ultra rational while taking a decision isn’t exactly conducive to taking a good one. Taking decisions involves perceiving the situation that the mind might not.
Heart Versus Head
When you should avoid taking important decisions
It is important to be in a proper frame of mind to take good decisions. If you are under stress, tired, hungry or ill, postpone decision-making, if you can, till later. At such times, other factors unrelated to the issue at hand may cloud your ability to make a good decision. If you feel more drawn towards one option without considering the rational benefits, try and analyse why you feel emotionally drawn towards it. Sometimes, one’s overall upbeat or dejected mood might lead one into taking decisions which are unsound decisions does have long lasting implications. |
Following one’s heart, intuition, is the ability to know of feel something without using logic or reason. Very often many of our decisions are taken intuitively-for instance, making friends with a certain person, falling in love, are intuitive decisions. On the other hand, intuitive skills can also be the fulcrum, which can tilt the scale of analytical decision making towards one or the other solution. Following one’s head, or analytical skills, is the ability to use logic to examine and measure a problem. People who have strong analytical skills can test solutions and options methodically and factually to arrive at the most efficient decision. If you are purely an intuitive or an analytical decision maker, you could do well to look at a situation with a bit of the aspect you don’t normally bring into use. Research conducted in the early 1990s showed that people who have suffered brain tumours and subsequently damage to the parts of the brain responsible for emotions and moods found it impossible to make good decisions, even when there is no damage to their cognitive abilities or overall intelligence. Interestingly, these people could come up with numerous rational options for a particular decision and weigh up the pros and cons for each, but were unable to make judgments, and couldn’t choose between the options. Feelings, the research concluded, provided the context into which rational analysis fits.
Make emotions work rationally
The best decision makers, though, are the ones who bring to their decisions a blend of the rational and emotional. In one’s personal life, heart decisions are common, but the head rules in the professional world. Says Sulajja Firodia Motwane, Jt MD, Kinetic Engineering Ltd, “In the world of business, decision-making is one of the most critical aspects of successful management. I believe that decision-making in business must be a rational process, and not emotional. Decision-making requires structured thinking that can allow your mind to evaluate costs and benefits. Emotions can distract from clarity of thought and add bias to the process. They can also make a person either risk averse, or reckless. However, it has been my experience that most decisive people have an inbuilt instinct or intuition, which helps greatly. Especially with experience, one can hone this intuition and lean on it. It’s not always easy, especially if you are part of the promoter family, to leave emotions out of the decision-making. For example, I can never lose sight that at Kinetic, we employ thousands indirectly (dealers, mechanics, etc). These thousands of people and their families, their welfare is always on my mind. This is my motivation for looking for success and growth.”
Develop your decision making skills
Taking a good decision is vital to getting ahead in life. And if you are always caught in a dilemma between heart and head while taking a decision, it will have far reaching consequences. Follow these simple guidelines to get you through.
- Define the problem as clearly and honestly as you can. Make sure you don’t confuse the effects of the problem with the problem itself.
- Gather as much information as you can about the situation to be able to come up with an effective solution.
- Seek advice from a person whom you trust and respect, and who will have an insight into the issue.
- Don’t make unrealistic expectations from your decision.
- List out alternatives and weigh the pros and cons of each.
- Be prepared to take the responsibility for your decision.
- Think of all the possible consequences of the decision you make.
- Go with your gut instinct.
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Understanding Your Personality
Going with your heart or your head often depends on your individual personality and mental make-up. Says psychiatrist, Dr Chetan Jain, “Some individuals are capable of taking calculated decisions even on emotional matters like relationships and love –here the analytical mindset is predominant. At the other extreme, you have matters relating to career or business-this is also not a very advisable situation. The ideal would probably be a fine blend of both determined by the individual situation.”
Similarly with entrepreneur, Dr, Prabha Khaitan. She states, “I take rational decisions depending on direct observations and information. But emotion always plays a role in my decision. This is because I strongly believe that no decision can be absolutely rational or only emotional. It is always a combination of both. My industry (leather export fraught with labour and manpower problems) and field of work is such that I am continuously vulnerable to emotion. Therefore, there is a challenge to live up to a rational decision and not let emotions get the better of you. However, I don’t think I would take a decision which is rationally perfect but emotionally breaks me or makes me lose my sleep!” Says Zarine Mehta, Creative Director, UTV, the most important aspect of my job is creating innovative concepts and unique characters and ensuring the quality of every script. For this, I use emotions and gut but it is backed up by my ‘rational’ understanding of the viewer based on continuous research. When I created Shararat, my gut told me that people would love a shararati old nani, so different from all the other dadis and nanis on air. But research also told me that the viewers were tired of the same old characters and were looking for something new. We use pure emotion and gut feel to crate and innovate and research provides a backup. Rarely are decisions at work taken based on pure emotions or pure rational thinking.”
Reorganise your mindset
A majority of our decisions are based on a more or less rational decision-making process, which one has evolved over the years, shaped by both socio-cultural and emotional forces within us. Following our head or our heart is second nature to us, depending on the situation. While one might throw rationale to the wind while falling in love with an eminently unsuitable person and go purely by gut instinct, the same individual might weigh pros and cons of various options, consult trusted friends and advisors before making a job switch or an investment decision. Mindset play an important role in determining whether one is a heart or a head person. Most of us fall into two mindsets-those who think with rigid mindsets where clear distinctions, black and white and no grey areas predominate; and fuzzy mindsets where ambiguities, the novel, and mental fluidity are welcome. Individuals with rigid mindsets are more likely to gravitate towards analytical decision-making, while those who are fuzzy thinkers follow their heart and their intuition. Interestingly, authoritarians, anorexics and bulimics all come under the first category. The second category-the intuitive mindset-is the one that encompasses free thinkers, artists and social reformers. So the next time you have an important decision to take, pause a while. Think out your options and then let your decision you take would be the best in the situation. |
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