Five Modes of Decision-Making

Transcription

1 Five Modes of Decision-Making Making choices about how you make decisions By Richard Barrett Abstract This paper explores the five ways in which we make decisions and places them in an evolutionary context. It suggests that the next evolutionary step is a shift from beliefbased decision making to values based decision making. Overview Over time, the human species has developed five ways of making decisions instincts, subconscious beliefs, conscious beliefs, values, and intuition. Nowadays, it is normal for every human being to grow up with the ability to use the first three modes of decision making. From an evolutionary perspective, values based decision making, and intuition based decision making are still relatively new but are increasingly being used as more and more people evolve to higher levels of consciousness. Instinct based decision making is used almost exclusively in survival situations where the safety and integrity of the physical body could be potentially compromised. Subconscious belief based decision making involves the emotions, and is used in attempting to satisfy our deficiency needs at the first three levels of personal consciousness. Conscious belief based decision making involves the rational mind, and is most often used in our attempts to satisfy our deficiency needs, and the first two levels of our growth needs. Values based decision making can be used as an alternative to conscious belief based decision making once we have evolved to the Transformation level of 1 P age

2 consciousness. It is the main mode of decision making at the Internal Cohesion level of consciousness. We can use values based decision making to satisfy our deficiency needs, and all our growth needs. Intuition based decision making can be used as an alternative to values based and conscious belief based decision making, once we have evolved to the Making a Difference level of consciousness. It is the main mode of decisionmaking at the Service level of consciousness. Intuition based decision making can be used in our attempts to satisfy our deficiency needs, and all our growth needs. With this brief introduction, let us now examine each mode of decision making in more detail. Instinct Based Decision Making Instinct based decision making takes place at the atomic/cellular level, because the actions that arise are founded on learned DNA responses, principally associated with issues of survival. For example, babies instinctively know how to suckle, how to cry when their needs are not being met, and how to smile so they get attention. No one taught them how to do this. It is encoded in the species DNA. In adult life, instinct based decision making kicks in to help us survive and avoid dangerous situations. It is associated with the fight or flight response. In certain situations, our instincts may cause us to put our life at risk in order to the save the life of another. This is the principal mode of decision making found in all creatures. The main features of instinct based decision making are: Actions always precede thought there is no pause for reflection between understanding a situation (meaning making) and decision making. The decisions are always based on past experiences what our species history has taught us about how to survive and keep safe. These instructions are encoded in the cellular memory of our DNA, and We are not consciously in control of our words, actions and behaviours. They are in control of us. Instinct based decision making tends to show up at the first level of personal consciousness. This is where we harbor our greatest fears the fears that have to do with our personal survival and our first level deficiency needs. Subconscious Belief Based Decision Making In subconscious belief based decision making we also react to what is happening in our world without reflection, but on the basis of personal memories of the mind rather than cellular (DNA) species memories. In this mode of decision making action also precedes thought. The action is often accompanied by the release of an emotional 2 P age

3 charge. The emotional charge that accompanies the actions/behaviours in subconscious belief based decision making can be positive or negative. Negatively charged emotions are associated with the satisfaction of the fear based needs of the ego, and lead to the display of potentially limiting behaviours greed, jealousy, blame, internal competition, rivalry, caution, etc. We know we are operating with subconscious fear based beliefs when we get angry, upset, shout at people, or generally behave badly towards others or in a self serving or defensive manner. What drives these behaviours are our subconscious fear based beliefs around not having enough of what we need to feel safe (Survival Consciousness), not being accepted and/or loved enough to feel a sense of belonging (Relationship Consciousness), and not being enough to feel respected or acknowledged (Self esteem Consciousness) these beliefs are at the core of the subconscious fear based beliefs associated with the first three levels of consciousness. These types of behaviour are always accompanied by a pent up negative emotional charge. Positively charged emotions are associated with the satisfaction of the needs of the soul and lead to the display of life enhancing behaviours compassion, humility, forgiveness etc. The main features of subconscious fear based decision making are: Actions always precede thought there is no gap between meaning making and decision making for reflection. The decisions that are made are always based on past experiences what our personal history has taught us about maintaining internal stability (emotional safety) and external equilibrium (physical safety) in the framework of existence of our childhood. This history is stored in our personal memory. We are not in control of our actions and behaviours. In this mode of decisionmaking the only way we can get back into conscious control is either to release or bottle up our emotions. Releasing helps us to return to rationality. Bottlingup creates stress and frustration. We are storing up negative emotional energy for future release. It is very personal. Others are not consulted to help us enhance our meaningmaking and give support in our decision making. Subconscious fear-based decision-making is the root cause of our own personal entropy and of the cultural entropy we find in organisations. Subconscious fear-based decision-making occurs at the first three levels of personal consciousness when we are attempting to deal with the subconscious fears that are feeding our deficiency needs. 3 P age

4 Conscious Belief Based Decision Making If we want to make rational decisions, we have to leave behind subconscious beliefbased decision making and shift to conscious belief based decision making. What allows us to make rational decisions is the pause we insert between meaning making and decision making. The pause allows us time for reflection so we can use rationale and logic to understand what is happening and make a choice about how to respond. By inserting a pause, we also have time to discuss the situation with others and build consensus. In this mode of decision making action follows thought. We can only insert a pause between meaning making and decision making if there is very little emotional charge associated with the memories that are triggered by the situation we are facing in our external world. Conscious belief based decision making can be used to address issues at all levels of personal consciousness. Conscious belief based decision making has one thing in common with subconscious belief based decision making: it uses information based on past experiences (what we think we know) to make decisions about the future. It creates a future very much like the past. At best, the future we create is only incrementally different. We are using beliefs based on our past experiences to design our future experience. Values Based Decision Making 1 The shift from conscious belief based decision making to values based decision making is not easy. It is part of the individuation process. The reason this shift requires individuation is because, prior to individuation, we make meaning of our world through our beliefs and most of these beliefs have to do with our personal and cultural upbringing. When we let go of these beliefs, we have to replace or align them with a new guidance system. We call this guidance system values. Values are the universal human guidance system of the soul. When you shift to values based decision making, you can effectively throw away your rule books. Every decision you make is sourced by what is meaningful to your soul. Values based decision making allows us to create a future that resonates deeply with who we are. It creates the conditions that allow authenticity and integrity to flourish. That is not to say there is no place for conscious belief based decision making based or logic and rational thinking. There is. However, all critical decisions need to pass the values test. The question we need to ask when making a decision is Is this decision rational, and is it in alignment with my values? If it is not in alignment with your values then you need 1 Richard Barrett, Building a Values Driven Organisation: A Whole System Approach to Cultural Transformation (Butterworth Heinemann), Boston, P age

5 to think again. A decision that is not in alignment with the organisation s espoused values lacks integrity. A decision that is not in alignment with your personal values lacks personal authenticity. You cannot create personal or group cohesion by making decisions that lack authenticity and integrity. We make values based decisions so that we can create the state or feeling we want to experience. 2 If we value trust, then we need to make decisions that allow us to display and experience trust. If we value accountability, then we make decisions that allow us to display and experience accountability. When we make values based decisions, we consciously create the future we want to experience. When we hold a vision, we consciously make decisions that keep us heading in that direction. When we have a mission, we consciously make decisions that support the attainment of that mission. In every case we are making decisions that help us consciously create the future we want to experience. Values based decision making is different from conscious belief based decision making in that it de emphasises meaning making based on past personal and species memories. In other words, we are not attempting to match up packages of information that represent our current experience with the packages of information stored in our personal and instinctual memory banks. We are taking the packages of information that are created through our awareness, and we are examining them in our mind without any predetermined judgment about how we should respond. We are effectively saying to ourselves How can I respond to this situation in such a way that I am able to express my most deeply held values? We are trying to let our values, not our beliefs, guide our behaviours. Values are universal concepts that transcend all contexts and are soul based. Beliefs, on the other hand, are contextual and related to the satisfying the needs of the ego in the framework of existence we are currently experiencing. Values based decision making begins to occur when we reach the transformation level of personal consciousness when we replace or align the beliefs of the ego with the values of the soul, and deepens as we align with our purpose in life (internal cohesion consciousness). Once we have reached these levels of consciousness and have developed the capacity for values based decision making, we can use this ability to address issues arising from all levels of personal consciousness. Intuition Based Decision Making The shift from values based decision making to intuition based decision making is just as difficult to make as the shift from belief based decision making to values based 2 Antonio Damasio, The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness (Harcourt Brace & Company: New York), P age

6 decision making because it requires another significant shift in consciousness a shift from internal cohesion consciousness to making a difference consciousness and subsequently to service consciousness. We reach these levels of consciousness when we align who we are, not only with our own soul (internal cohesion), but with the souls of others that share a similar sense of purpose and operate with similar values. The principal characteristics of intuition based decision making are as follows: Awareness is expanded through a shift in our sense of identity/consciousness. Judgment is suspended; no ego driven meaning making takes place, either subconsciously or consciously; The mind is empty; thoughts, beliefs and agendas are suspended; The mind is free to make a deep dive into the mind space of the collective unconscious, and emerge with a deep sense of knowing; and The thoughts that arise reflect wisdom; they are in alignment with our most deeply held values; and they give consideration to the long term. They reflect what want to emerge for the benefit of the common good. What is different in this mode of decision making is that there is no conscious or subconscious attempt at meaning making; and, there is no focus on the past or the future. The decision arises out of presence in the current moment. Beliefs lead to decisions based on past experiences. Values lead us to decisions based on the positive feelings we want to experience in the future. Intuition allows us to create a future based on the emergence of the core of our being. When we create the conditions that allow our minds to tap into the collective mind space, our intuition informs us of what wants or needs to emerge. This is the basis of the U Process described by Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, and Flowers in Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future. 3 Intuition based decision making begins to appear when we reach the making a difference level of consciousness and continues to develop and deepen as we move to the service level of consciousness. Conclusion Human beings are complex creatures and despite all our best efforts to erase our subconscious fear based beliefs, there will always be times when some fear arises from our subconscious and catches us off guard. What this means is that as we evolve and grow in consciousness terms, we will shift up the decision making ladder and the levels of consciousness to the degree we are able to manage, master or release our sub 3 Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, (Cambridge: The Society for Organizational Learning), P age

7 conscious fear based beliefs. As we make progress, this allows us to expand our ability to respond rather than react. Richard Barrett February P age