How We Make Decisions and Changes

Early in my years of education, I had a Social Work Professor who taught a whole week of classes on how people make change and decisions in their lives. This teacher had sociology studies, psychological studies, historic studies, and abnormal behavioral science studies all included in her efforts. My classmates and I were to write a 5 page paper summarizing her work and adding our own research and thoughts about how people make decisions and changes in their lives.

I love to write and yet still found myself floundering in figuring out what I was going to say about this subject. I spent 2 pages summarizing all the things I learned in the lecture series and then another 2 pages summarizing my research and still had no thoughts about what to say about my own conclusions.

I started to draw a picture of all the words that were included in the summaries and I noticed that if I gave the words different sizes that a form was taking place. A triangle balanced on point was the first shape. I then took the shape and added another shape of words on top of the widest part of the triangle and a Diamond shape emerged. I had put 2 forms to indicate 2 kinds of processes that are used to make a decision or change… hmmm! Let’s look at those words and forms:

Now I had created two forms which summarized all the information I had learned about change and decision making and put them into a simple step by step format for moving forward. Except that I was missing out on one kind of decision making change process that is either a joy or a problem. I wanted to pass this paper so I needed to figure out how to symbolize the process for little decisions and ideas. First I called it the $10 decision: If you did not need your $10 in your pocket to pay some other bill, then you could jump in and make a spontaneous decision on something you found to enjoy for $10. I decided I would call that the JUMP decision.

The hard part about the JUMP decision is that it is only good for those little choices that you can cover easily. If you don’t have $10 extra and spend the $10 in your pocket in a jump decision it throws all your bigger decision off balance – you lose the point of sharpness of your other decisions. It is the type of decision that ruins the best laid plans, the New Year’s resolution and family budgets in just a split second. It can cause a halt to a whole lifetime of future decisions too.

I have used these three models over the past 40 years of practice and work endeavors. I have used these models to set up budgets and help institutions make change. The only time they fail me is when I throw a JUMP decision into the Triangle or Diamond at the wrong place and throw the whole plan off balance.

The first week of May I went to a workshop on how Institutions make change and progress. Guess What! Though the language/words used were in the context of the institutions needs, after two hours, I came away with the Diamond, the Triangle and the JUMP decision/ change process.

Here is an example of a 17 year old boy working on the Diamond Decision Making Model

1. Idea – what will I do with the rest of my life or life after High School?
2. Creating Possibilities:
   I could: become a mechanic
   go to college
   be a Doctor
   become Peter Pan and never grow up
   join the military
   travel
   hang out with friends
   drink beer – as soon as I turn 21
   get married
   perform in a rock band
   be an actor
   take a career interest survey
   work at fishing
   become a millionaire
   become a parent
   invent video games
   just be a gamer
   (the possibilities might just be endless)
3. Researching possibilities
   take a career planning survey
   take an interest survey
   lists your strengths and weaknesses
   ask your friends what you should do
   visualize you in 5 years in 10 years
   how will you pay your way? include health ins./ living expenses/ food/ shelter/ clothing
   I will take a class on how to make decisions
   I will look at trade school and colleges
   Go to the military recruiters but not until the last minute and if that is my choice
4. Interviewing People
   an important step: will his parents be able to help with college expenses? or help write grants
   will he find his personality is not compatible with his interest – vocation choice vs hobby choice
   can he do a work experience or Internship in that area and see if that is what he likes
   do other people have good ideas about fund raising for this kind of training
   suggestions for training programs
   many business will pay for your education if you prove to be a good employee
   give other suggestions and encouragement for the process
   what have they found to be true in living out their life or career
   information interviews with people living life in the path you would like to take or on a specific job
5. Sorting and Gleaning the Ideas
   very hard process and often takes some alone time or journal writing time
   very often some little magic will happen at this point in your life
   the answer will just come to you when it is right and many things will just fall into place.
6. The Decision and the Changes will take place
   Then you start the process and go through the Triangle or Diamond model again to get launched.

This is just one example but just think what might happen if people made a jump decision at 17 and discovered they were now going to be a parent? or they just bought a car they can not make payments on? or they bought a house without figuring out that the promises were not real? (A lot of folks just did this – the current mortgage crisis) Got to watch out for those Jump Decisions!