Group Think

We are all entitled to our own opinions, but our opinions are often based on conclusions and observations derived from other people. The more we talk about things, the more influenced we are by the views of others.

Not necessarily a bad thing, depending on who we talk to and how strong our own convictions are.

Certain decisions, however, are personal, eventhough we're making them 'together'. Elections for example, is a very personal act, although there will be those who will herd you one way or another.

Don't vote for BN, because of the corrupt practices of its leaders.

Don't vote for PAS, because of their twisted religious propaganda.

At the end of the day, you have to also ask, are you voting for the person or the party? Is what the party stands for in line with your own value/belief system? Will this person honour his/her promises to you in your constituency? Does this party/person satisfy what's important to you, rather than the newspapers or those guys in your Yahoo! Group?

With all these considerations, the decision you have to make now has an added level of granularity and perhaps several dimensions!

Some of us do things because other people do it too. We say certain or do certain things because it makes us 1) accepted in our group of choice or 2) sets us apart from those we think are not like us. Nothing wrong with that either.

But don't you notice that some decisions, even though it runs in parallel with the society that we live in, doesn't 'feel' right, as if there's an invisible hand within us that stops us from prodding forward, or a voice that tells us "Think again!".

When confronted with the never-ending questions in any decision that has some weightage in my life, I recall Monica's methodology in charting out what I wanted in life some 7 years ago. She attacked the problem with the same methodical and logical approach as one would in tackling any corporate issues - mind maps, cause-effect diagrams and the like.

Vulcan Cold, but effective.

Then I started work, and I got trained in the 'art' of evaluating tender proposals. You have a list of requirements that was exhaustively considered, ranked by what's compulsory (the deal-breakers) and what's nice to have (the icing on the cake). This list is set in titanium - it's what's most important to YOU (or rather, your organisation), minus external influences, prior to negotiations. At the very least, you go in and no matter what is said or done to sway you one way or the other, you will remember what you wanted in the first place because you have to.

This is relatively easy to do in our professional lives - there's nothing really 'personal' at stake other than our loyalty to our employers and our professional reputations, but hard to do when it comes to our personal well-being.

But perhaps this is something we should adopt anyway, whether it be choosing a government, choosing a spouse, or choosing a job...

Posted by Najah Nasseri at 2004年03月05日 11:52 | TrackBack