Assignment

Principle

Tool

Illustration

1. Prepare for decisions under stress.

2. Build situational awareness.

3. Sharpen responsibility.

4. Establish clear priorities.

5. Adhere to operating principles.

6. Revise operating principles.

7. Makes well-timed decisions.

8. Overcome self-interest

a. Pursue responsibility for decision making.

b. Preserve optionality.

a. Voice questions not opinions.

b. The 70 percent solution.

a. Appraise the past.

b. Tolerate them-once.

a. Educate your instincts.

b. Restrategize and restaff.

a. Clone your opponent.

b. Appraise the past.

a. Write Poetry.

b. Let the battle rage.

a. Look at the clock.

b. The 70 percent solution.

a. Voice questions, not opinions.

b. Survey the environment.

a. In order to accomplish my goals of being in a higher position to make the workplace more efficient I knew that I had to step out of my comfort zone.

b. Since I was out of school for 15 years there were some decisions I had to contemplate in regards to home life and making sure I had the right support.

a. The dynamics for higher education change so I had to obtain the correct information from attending information sessions.

b. the college personnel was going to show what was needed to obtain my application as I knew I was not going to know the full aspects of how it would affect my life until I tried.

a. I gained a lot of experience from previous positions yet without the appropriate degree I was not going to reach the pint I wanted to be in life.

b. I was accepted into a college from high school with full scholarship yet was a new mother and could not attend based on my responsibilities. I was not going to let anything deter me from my goals.

a. My superiors kept telling me how smart I was ands encouraging me to go further than my position at the time as a secretary. I had to evaluate myself from their perspective.

b. Attending college was going to a major change in my household in terms of motherly duties so I had to assure I selected the correct schedule that would allow me to complete without difficulty.

a. Attending school as an adult surrounded by teenagers was different as I felt intimidated by being the oldest, yet the new high school graduates helped me to embrace my own way by initially following theirs.

b. I was a good student in high school but I was determined to be excellent in college by focusing and getting the most out of the experience.

a. Reading self-help books and listening to music helped me to get in a clear mindset to make the best decisions.

b. There were many colleges that offered the course I wanted but I had to make the choice that was best for me as the college I was going to attend straight from high school was selected by my parents. I was determined to make this My path.

a. At one point in time I was contemplating going back to school as during that time I did not make my decision by the deadline where I missed out on a scholarship opportunity.

b. Having thr thought process to begin with a fall session and my plans didn’t began in April of that year there was no time for procrastination for aid application and completing the procedure needed by the college.

a. I involved the family and friends closest to get a consensus on how they felt about college making a change for me and overall my children.

b. I decided to take one semester at a time to see how my children would respond to the new schedule.

Principle

Tool

Illustration

1. Prepare for decisions under stress.

2. Rush to judgment.

3. Analysis paralysis.

4. Establish clear priorities.

5. Constricted thinking.

6. Mistakes happen.

7. A touchstone or lodestar, some object or memory can serve as a powerful reminder of the need to transcend personal gain for public purpose when making responsible decisions.

8. Overcome self-interest

a. Educate your instincts.

b. Appraise the past

a. Survey the environment.

b. Assign others to help.

a. Restrategize and restaff.

b. Educate your instincts.

a. Pursue responsibility for decision making.

b. Remind yourself of whom you are working for aside from yourself and who stands to benefit  and suffer most  from the decisions you make.

a. The 70 percent solution.

b. Review priorities on the eve of urgent decisions.

a. Appraise the past.

b. Acquire and digest decision experience.

a. Look at a telling image  or recall the example of a parent , the advice of a mentor, or their equivalent

b. Track developments and take swift action when the clock demands.

a. Appraise the past.

b. Educate your instincts.

a. Making employment changes is not easy as I had to consider if leaving would benefit in term of income, medical insurance, and flexibility that I had that I would lose at new employer which was needed for times I had to be involved with children at school.

b. There was a point in time where I was going to leave due to frustration of working with no contract or pay increase but being patient and staying was the best choice.

a. The employer I was contemplating did not seem to have good management as when I would complete my research there were many articles about the mishaps and adverse actions within the organization.

b. Knowing that media is not always reliable I asked some friends to find out information from employees that know who worked for the organization to get an internal perspective.

a. After considering all the information I retrieved and was told to me I found myself at a standstill, therefore I wrote down the pros and cons for each employer and made my decision.

b. When I found myself in doubt I would find information that would either solidify for deny my thoughts.

a. My main reason for leaving was for money but leaving my employer yet never consider how mentally draining it would be to consider the choice. 

b. Ultimately the most important aspect to making my decision was my children so I did I rationalized not to rush to judgment that would have an adverse effect on them.

a. There was no way to know completely the ins and outs of the prospective employer so I chose to make my decision based on what I knew and if it would benefit me.

b. As the date approached for me to attend the second interview I contemplated based on the information I knew if I was going to attend and if not inform the proper personnel so that can review other candidates.

a. I once left an employer when I felt my needs weren’t being met and when working with the new employer was actually not the best solution. I chose to not make the same mistake again.

b. By looking to the past I realized that I made decisions based on emotion and that needed to change. I needed to face the responsibility and make decision on rationality.

a. I would contemplate on the time that elapsed since I began with the employer compared to the last time I received a promotion and it was a time period that was too long and I knew I had to act upon it.

b. I was not quite where I wanted to be but I was able to see my accomplishments and support system I had along the way.

a. Working with my employer helped develop me as I decided to stay committed during the four year period employees worked without a contract as I knew my development would continue.

b. There was talk amongst employees about negotiation that would be in favor of employees but the information kept changing. Therefore, contacted the union to get an update and the site where the information would be posted.

Principle

Tool

Illustration

1. Make clear the decision entails before trying to make it.

2. Inexperienced gut.

3. Anxiety overload.

4. Prepare oneself to get into a bigger game.

5. To achieve daunting ends focus on basic truths..

6. Break hard decisions into smaller steps.

7. Unfamiliar responsibilities.

8. Anxiety overload.

a. Request clarification of the underlying assumptions and the purpose of the decision.

b. Educate your instincts.

a. The 70 percent solution.

b. Obtain formal instruction.

a. Restrategize and restaff.

b. Assign others to help.

a. Identify implications of responsibility.

b. Incrementally engage in decisions now to anticipate greater responsibility.

a. Use simple axioms to keep the ultimate goal clear.

b. Channel thought and vison on what lies ahead.

a. Burn the boat.

b. Set proximate goals and tangible targets that add up to larger aims.

a. before you get to the go point  imagine that you are gazing down from the apex, perfectly positioned to appreciate the entire enterprise and its situation.

b. Preserve optionality.

a. Look at the clock.

b. Survey the environment.

a. thinking about the future is not something most people want to do but when I think of the future I think of how it will affect my children.

b. I never invested in stocks or read into details about them therefore there was quite a bit of information I had to gather to make my decision.

a. Stocks seemed to be a different world in itself as I was not clear about the terminology or even the procedure. My decision was based on the combination of information gathered.

b. I allowed the financial advisors to walk me step by step on what would happen and what I needed to do to activate my choice of investment.

a. there was a need to understand what I was doing and how it would benefit me.

b. I wanted insight about stock investing from people I knew and trusted so I provided them with copies of pamphlets I was provided to help me select the best choice.

a. Having children bring along responsibilities which we often times do not want to face. Although the benefit is for retirement years I did not want to place a burden on my children as they became adults.

b. I knew I wanted to be a manager/leader therefore a decision such as choosing a stock option was very simple that only affected me as opposed to making decisions that affects and entire organization.

a. I always turn to Bishop TD Jakes for encouragement and guidance as his sermons always seem to speak to me. These same sermons gave me clarity on what I was doing and why.

b. Living a comfortable life as a senior with the ability to provide for myself was the main concern.

a. I had in mind of there were decisions I made previously that I did not have prior knowledge and my brain felt it was on overload. I wanted to take a different approach.

b. Investing into a retirement account was just a small step of actions I had to action to prepare for my future.

a. Envisioning my future from a more responsible scope allowed me to appreciate the opportunity of having the benefit.

b. There was no pressure to make the decision by a designated time to I had to stop putting more pressure on myself than needed.

a. I was placing a lot of pressure on myself and feeling helpless from not knowing more about the investments. I initially made a goal with a timeframe but eventually removed the time limit.

b. Before deciding to invest I followed the actions of another employee I was close with who signed up, my intentions were to visualize the process and get their feedback as they went along. A couple months later I checked back in with them to analyze their satisfaction in the retirement program.