Decisions vs. Decision Processes

Following up on my previous posts, one of the key points reinforced in the book is to pay attention to the decision making process, instead of the decision itself.

I was discussing this with my dad when he shared 2 anecdotes - 

1. When my uncle did really well in his high school, many elders / mentors suggested he move to a bigger city for better and greater opportunities. My grandfather wasn’t too keen (change is difficult - plus there were job perks associated with their current location), but grandmom forced the issue and it was to be Vellore or Chennai.

Everything favoured Vellore. It was closer. Decent college. Nice city. Grandfather could get a transfer.

Chennai was the bigger city, and it didnt have much else going for it. Nevertheless it was deemed that the choice was best made by the Gods. An elaborate ceremony followed, offerings were made, and God’s will was focussed onto a ballot. God picked Vellore. Mentors prevailed though, God was ignored and he went to Chennai. It was definitely the better decision and was instrumental in opening up doors and ushering in financial stability for the family.

2. Soon after coming to Chennai, he got a promotion and was assigned to a town called Gwalior half-way across the country. No-one in my family had heard of the place before, nor knew anyone who knew about it. So it was decided to keep things simple, reject the promotion and stay in Chennai. Until the officer in Gwalior, worried that he couldn’t go back home if my uncle rejected the offer, personally came over to re-assure him and convinced him to go. Good decision again, it gave him more exposure and pushed his career forward. 

Both were decisions with positive long term results, and the “right” things to do in hindsight. But the process to decide them was non-existent, and borderline hilarious. There was no strong reasoning, and the decisions could have swayed one way or the other purely based on external forces.

To rephrase the Bhagvat Gita a little, my take-away is this:

“You have the right to create a decision making process, but you are not entitled to the fruits of the decisions you make.

And do not let the fruit be the purpose of your process, so you won’t be attached to the lack of a process.”