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Know Yourself to Make Sound
Decisions
 What kind of a decision-maker are you? If you don’t know, take a few
minutes to think about it. Determining how you make (or don’t make)
decisions will help you make better ones in the future.
Most people have their own way of handling decision-making. Here are a
few of the more common approaches:
• Snap decision-makers.
Often people rely on gut instincts when they make quick
decisions. While this can work well for some, it doesn’t always work for
others. This is because snap decision-makers frequently make choices
based on fear or discomfort with the decision-making process. They just
want to get the whole thing over with so they choose quickly without
weighing options or relying on true instincts. This can make for some
pretty bad decision-making. Focus your attention on the reasons why you
make decisions so quickly.
• Serious option-weigher.
While people who make decisions this way are often
admired for the careful attention they give to the process, there are
those who practice serious option-weighing to a debilitating extreme.
These decision-makers put so much time into weighing every detail of
every option that they often get lost along the way and find it
difficult to finalize a decision and be happy with it. Serious
consideration is a good thing in most cases, but be careful you don’t
waste time and energy considering unnecessary details.
• The flip-flopper.
While it might seem like this person has weighed each option and made a
firm decision, often a few minutes, days or weeks later the person
shifts his or her thinking entirely on the matter. This type of
decision-maker usually has a problem with committing to the possible
outcomes of the decision. Fear drives him or her to waffle. It’s almost
like watching someone try on new clothes they are happy with at first,
but in the next few moments they worry about how they look from every
angle before rejecting the whole ensemble and starting over again.
Malcom Harvey, in a piece called “Decision Making for Giants and Elves”
on the Practical Success Solutions website, recommends a four-step
process to avoid making poorly thought out or ego-based decisions.
1. Make a decision.
Harvey said you have to face that in decision-making there are
consequences and then make the decision to face those consequences.
2. Make your own decisions.
Don’t go to others to make your decisions for you. Take
responsibility.
3. Work toward fruition.
Once you’ve made your decision, then work tirelessly toward the end you
would like to see. Focus on the details and practice patience.
4. Stick with it. Don’t let your doubts torment you.
You’ve made your decision, you’ve taken action and responsibility. You
will likely make mistakes along the way. When you do, pick yourself up,
dust yourself off and move forward.
Emotions
Influence Artwork
While artists
throughout the ages have claimed to inspire viewers’ emotions with their
artwork, a new electronic artwork program is turning that notion on its
ear.
Images gathered through a webcam can now change a piece of electronic
artwork immediately in response to the viewer’s emotions. The software
recognizes eight facial features that characterize the viewer’s
emotional state and then adapts the colors and brushstrokes to match.
This means that if the viewer appears angry, the artwork that person
will see will be constructed of darker colors and more violent brush
strokes. If the viewer appears to be happy, that person will see more
vibrant colors that have a more subtle application.
“[The program] does all of this in real time,” said John Collomosse of
the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath in England,
“meaning that as the viewer’s emotions change the artwork responds
accordingly. This results in a digital canvas that smoothly varies its
colors and style and provides a novel interactive artistic experience.
This kind of empathic painting needs only a desktop computer and a
webcam to work, so once you have the program and have calibrated it for
the individual viewer, you are ready to start creating personalized art
based on your mood.”
Maria Shugrina and Margrit Betke coordinated the project from the
University of Boston. |
