The Decision Making Process is the subject of this article.

Having to describe it with the aim of making it easy to recognise in the “mare magnum” of Google, we needed to choose certain words that would make a matter that is complex by its very nature a bit simpler.

But exactly which matter are we talking about? The decision making process, in other words the analysis of all the factors that, whether we’re aware of it or not, motivate a specific decision.

If you’re reading this article, out decision to entitle it “The Decision Making Process” has been successful.

When we talk about the decision making process we touch on all those cognitive and emotional functions (which fall within the realms of neuroscience, cognitive psychology and behavioural science) that help us make a decision, after assessing the various options and their consequences.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also devoted attention to decision making processes, including them among the life skills that people need.

So, if you are a recruiter, remember that it can also be useful, when making a selection, to do a little checking.

When we are faced with the embarrassment of having to choose, what do we do? Which strategies do we employ, to make the right decision?

Well the first thing we have to do is switch on our brain, which isn’t a figure of speech in this case. It actually happens.

Apparently, two specific areas of the brain are involved in our decisions:

• the preorbital cortex (related to our emotional side)
• the anterior and dorsolateral prefrontal cortexes (relating do with the more deliberative aspect).

There were initially a number of different opinions regarding whether or not a certain emotional component is involved in the decision making process.

The analysis of neuroscientific data tells us, however, that it is very much involved, and we base our decisions on an intuitive and automatic “quid” more often than you might think.

We’ll talk about this in greater detail in a little while.

There would appear to be seven important steps behind a good decision making ability and we are going to try and summarise them here:

•  Focus on the type of decision/choice to be made.

The questions to ask yourself in this case are related to focusing on your goal.

•  Collect the pertinent data/information.

This phase includes the consideration of all the pertinent data and contextual circumstances and will help you make an informed decision.

•  Weigh up the options

Alternative solutions are considered during this phase, and they may be more or less important, depending on the context and the decision to be made.

•  Critically assess the options

Each option is analysed in terms of costs, benefits, risks and feasibility, also considering motivation and emotion which, according to neuroscience, strongly influence the decision making process. In this case, and always depending on the context, we can progress from a simple list of pros and cons to a more refined tool, such as the SWOT analysis or the Eisenhower decision matrix.

•  Select the best option

Now it’s really time to choose the best option, which may not even be a single option (among those previously assessed) but the perfect combination of several. For example, creative people, who are used to reasoning not with a system, which we might call binary, may at this stage have a brilliant idea, to reach their decision.

•  “Do it!”

The time has come to take action. This is the empirical moment, the moment when thought is translated into practical deeds.

•  Check the results

Has the decision made been successful or not? This analytical phase is essential to learn from the experience, in view of other decisions to be made in the future.

We have included this list, but we should point out that the rational component of the decision making process, intervenes only at a later stage, after unconscious and automatic deliberation.

As we said earlier, three important parts of our brain are responsible for what we could call the real decision making method:

• the protoreptilian part, dedicated to survival (R-complex)
• the limbic system, containing the amygdala, the real emotional centre
• the neocortex, the area dedicated to reasoning

This is the division, according to Mac Lean’s evolutionary theory.

In unconscious decision making processes, the first two areas play a fundamental role.

The R complex is the oldest part of the brain, responsible for instinctive and automatic functions, such as survival, territoriality and the “fight-or-flight” response.

When faced with a situation of risk or urgency, this part immediately springs into action, guiding immediate and impulsive decisions without involving rationality. Even in everyday choices, this structure can be activated to favour options that provide security or immediate benefits.

The limbic system is the seat of emotions, memory and motivation. Specifically, the amygdala assesses the emotional value of external stimuli very quickly, deciding within milliseconds whether or not an event is perceived as threatening or advantageous. This process is crucial in subconscious decision making processes because it filters and steers our choices based on emotions and emotionally significant memories, even if we don’t realise it.

In practice, when we make a decision – even an apparently rational one – the limbic system and the protoreptilian part of the brain act as the first responders, influencing our decision through emotions and instincts. Only later does the neocortex intervene, rationalising and justifying the decision made, often post-hoc.

In short, our subconscious mind is guided by these deep structures which, specking in evolutionary terms, have guaranteed our survival and continue to steer – often silently but always precisely – our day-to-day and strategic decisions.

If we really wanted to investigate all the elements that have contributed to defining the decision making theory, we would have to take a big step backwards to the assumptions of Jean Piaget.

A psychologist dedicated to the study of the developmental age, he outlined four important stages of cognitive thinking at the basis of children’s decision-making and problem-solving processes:

• sense-motor phase: decisions are made based on experience, including sensory experience
• pre-operational phase: decisions are made in consideration of how they will affect us (in a word… selfishness)
• practical operational phase: decisions may be more logical, but are influenced by past experience
• formal operational phase: decisions may also be the outcome of a more abstract thought

These four phases, which are valid for adults too, have been joined by another:

• post-formal phase: a decision can be made by an adult, rationally, but it is also influenced by a person’s personal experience.

And what about our needs? Well of course they also come into play.

The needs that influence the decision making process are manifold and can be classified    according to the main psychological and behavioural theories; they act as motivational engines that steer our decisions, in both the personal and professional spheres.

Maslow docet… and our decisions are also based on (from the bottom to the top of his famous pyramid):

• physiological needs: if unsatisfied, they push us towards their immediate realisation
• the need for safety: this includes the search for stability, protection and predictability. This need drives conservative or cautious decisions, such as buying insurance or stable job choices.
• social needs: concerning the desire for social connection, belonging and acceptance. The decisions influenced by these needs can lead, for example, to the choice of specific brands, groups or activities, which strengthen the sense of belonging.
• the need for appreciation and recognition: driving choices that enhance our self-esteem and recognition by others, such as ambitious career decisions.
• the need for self-fulfilment: decisions are sometimes aimed fulfilling our potential and pursuing personal growth and ambitious goals, influencing creative, innovative and future-oriented decisions.

Decision making models all revolve around those famous seven points.

We have pointed out, however, that decision making models based on logic and rationality seem to respond on a “delayed” basis, leaving the field open to intuitive and creative decision making models (the famous “middle of the road”).

And there is also another valuable aspect to be considered: that of bias and heuristics, two key concepts that fall within the field of behavioural sciences.

Heuristics and cognitive bias are essential if we are to understand how we make decisions, especially in circumstances that are uncertain or complex (or perhaps when we need to solve a problem in a hurry).

Heuristics (from the Greek “heurískein”, meaning “to find”, “to discover”) are real mental shortcuts, normally used to simplify and accelerate decision making processes.

We tend to “economise” and, instead of analytically and rationally analysing all the information available, we rely on quick, intuitive cognitive strategies to reach an acceptable conclusion.

Some examples of heuristics:

• the availability heuristic: the probability of an event occurring is based on the ease with which similar examples come to mind.
• the representativeness heuristic: the probability that something belongs to a specific groups based on its similarity to our mental stereotype of that specific group is assessed.

Bias, on the other hand, is a real systematic distortion of judgement and thought, caused by the fact that our brain tends invest as little energy as possible in making decisions.

Starting from the French-speaking origin of the term, (biais, meaning “oblique”, “slanted”), it goes without saying that it means a flawed inclination of the mind, a sort of prejudice.

Some of the most common biases are:

• Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek, interpret and remember information that confirms our pre-existing convictions.
• Anchor effect: reliance exclusively on the first information received (the “anchor”) when subsequent decisions are made.
• Optimism bias: overestimating the probability of positive events and underestimating the probability of negative events.

In conclusion, you too have been the protagonist of a veritable decision making process: you had the choice of reading this article right to the end or stopping after the first few lines.

If you decided to continue, you have undoubtedly enriched your knowledge of what lies behind decision making models.

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