The more we get involved in the day-to-day dimensions of our hectic lives, the easier it is to forget to stop and think why we do what we do. We forget to take a meaningful breath.
Unfortunately, the further away we get from school, the more we deviate from disciplined thinking. I encourage my Executive MBA students to take a few steps back to assess why they make particular decisions and the logic behind their choices. As an exercise, I request them to spend an hour or two a week to take an introspective step back and review their choices before moving forward. They have told me this simple exercise has paid rich dividends for them and their companies.
As executives, and managers, we must focus on rational reasons for making specific decisions and utilize well defined criteria to assess their impact. How else will we ever know if we are right, or wrong?
Those who fail to take a critical look at their decisions bask in the aura of their bad decisions, pat themselves on the back, and justify bad choices. Repeatedly. They wonder why things don’t workout, and then the finger pointing starts…
About Hemant Rustogi