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4.1: The Decision Making Process

  • Page ID
    106729
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    We make several decisions every day. Some are small and rather simple decisions ranging from what to eat in the morning to what to wear for the day. Other decisions may be more complex and require some planning. When it comes to making big decisions like buying a car, choosing a major/career, or deciding on what school to transfer to it helps to use a rational, logical and ordered process. The Rational Decision Making Process involves 5 steps.

    • Step 1: Formulating a goal(s)
    • Step 2: Identifying the criteria for making decisions
    • Step 3: Identifying alternatives
    • Step 4: Performing analysis
    • Step 5: Making a final decision

    These steps provide structure and disciple to the process. Each step requires you to be proactive while investigating information, collecting data and analyzing information resulting in action.

    Application of the Rational Decision Making Process

    Let’s apply the steps involved in decision making:

    Step 1: Formulating a goal(s)

    This step involves assessing the current situation and defining your goal. Ask yourself:

    • What is it you want to accomplish?
    • Is this a problem to solve or an opportunity to pursue? Knowing the difference will help guide you through the remaining steps and will help you organize your support network.

    For example: As a student in this class, I have just finished career assessments and taken time to conduct career research. I now have 4 career options I am considering but don’t know which to pursue. I have learned I am passionate about pursuing a career in the helping profession but can’t decide between: elementary school teaching, social work, nursing or school counselor. These are all possible opportunities for me to pursue!

    My goal is to determine which career path is best for me and how do I get there.

    Step 2: Identifying the criteria for making the decision

    This step involves doing research and gathering relevant information. Ask yourself:

    • What information do you currently know about your options?
    • What information is missing?
    • What sources will help you learn more about your options and who can help you gather more information?

    Applying Step 2 to the example above:

    • I am familiar with online career research sites addressed in Unit 3. I might consider putting together a chart where I can take notes and do a side-by-side comparison between these different occupations including: duties and responsibilities, educational training, licensing/certification requirements, salary information and current labor market trends and job outlook.
    • I can arrange for informational interviews with professionals in each of the careers I am considering to gain a more personalized perspective on each profession.
    • I can meet with a counselor to get an overview of the different majors that may be a good fit, develop an educational plan and compare and contrast the different options.

    Step 3: Identifying alternatives

    There are many ways to get to one place. This step allows you to put together creative options based on the information gathered in Step 2. As you develop your options, consider possible obstacles and challenges you may foresee. This will help you plan and seek necessary support to help overcome them. As you identify alternatives, assess yourself and your current situation to see which of the options seem most attractive to you at this time.

    Applying Step 3 to the example above:

    Now, I can start putting the information together and analyzing how it best fits my current situation and my needs. After gathering the career information and speaking to professionals in the field, I feel strongly that being an elementary school teacher best aligns with my values and allows me to focus on making a difference while helping children learn and grow. It aligns nicely with my personality preferences, values, interests, character strengths, skills and abilities. My career assessments confirm this path is a suitable option for me. I will now pursue elementary school teaching as my focus!

    My research also tells me that I can technically be any major to pursue elementary school teaching. I will need to review all the different majors offered at College of the Canyons to help me narrow down my options.

    Step 4: Performing analysis

    This step allows you to dive deeper and evaluate alternatives, assess the outcomes of each option and consider how they align with your values to help you narrow down your options. Consider ranking your options and focus on your first choice. Assess your likelihood of success toward each alternative and consider sacrifices you may need to make. You will want to revisit any possible challenges or obstacles you may foresee and address any barriers that may affect your success.

    Applying step 4 to the example above:

    Now that I have analyzed and researched my major options, and reviewed course descriptions of the required classes for the Liberal Studies and Early Childhood Education, I can compare and contrast each major and assess it with my preferences. I will consider what courses seem more appealing to me and which I might enjoy more.

    Step 5: Making a final decision

    Now you are ready to establish a plan of action. This involves putting together necessary steps to pursue your desired outcome. Set a date you will start and complete your plan of action. It is important to be realistic as you develop your plan. Consider resources you will need to put your plan into action.

    Applying step 5 to the example above:

    After researching the classes required for each major, I decide to pursue Early Childhood Education because it does not require as much science and allows me to focus on child growth and development and how children learn and that seems more interesting to me. Now that I have narrowed down my options and decided on a path, I am ready to develop my plan of action!

    Next semester, I will:

    • Join the TEACH program and the Future Educator’s Club on campus so I can learn more about the teaching profession and gain exposure to the teaching environment.
    • Meet with a counselor to establish my student educational plan and review requirements for my associate degree and transfer. I will also use the online MAP – My Academic Planning tool through MyCanyons to develop my educational plan!
    • Talk to the department chair of ECE and start networking!

    This decision making model described above is linear in nature where one step leads to the next, however, it is important to know that you may revisit a previous step at any time throughout the process. For example, after completing Step 4 and analyzing the situation, you may realize the alternatives generated in step 3 are not of interest to you anymore so you may need to go back to Step 2 and gather more information before moving forward.

    Be flexible and open to change. Be patient and know that you are not alone on this journey. There is a lot of support on campus to help you brainstorm, gather information and evaluate your options. You always have options!

    Once you decide on a career, your decision will help guide the goals you set for yourself from your college education to your future career. For help to stay on track in this journey, you can seek assistance from the information and resources you learn in this class as well as counselors and career center staff at the college to guide your search. To get started in practicing your decision-making skills, you can try this next activity from California Career Café, a virtual career center for California community college students.31

    Try the following decision-making exercise from California Career Café:

    32

    C:\Users\johnson_a\Desktop\decisions.jpg
    Figure 4.1 – Thinking Caps.

    This page titled 4.1: The Decision Making Process is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Graciela Martinez and Elizabeth Shaker.