Decision Making For Dummies

Chapter 6

Learning from Mistakes and Unintended Consequences

In This Chapter

Using blind spots and past errors to improve future decisions

Anticipating issues before they become problems

Using failures to build character and credibility

Both rational thinking and intuition can fail a decision-maker, and it’s only in hindsight that you comprehend the flaws in the process. When you see and understand the source of decision errors, you gain the power to make better decisions. By learning how to work with failure, overcome mistakes, and deal with unintended consequences, you can transform difficult experiences into entrepreneurial wisdom.

In this chapter, I show you how to spot the blind spots that undermine the decision-making process, evaluate past decisions, and use mistakes — yours and others’ — to improve your decision-making process and avoid similar mistakes in the future. This information will enable you to accurately access situations by observing and adjusting to dynamic circumstances. I hope it will also save you from blindly committing the same errors again and again.

Engaging in Reflective Learning

There are several ways to see whether the decisions you’re making will ...