Reflections on Decision Making
Avoiding framing traps would be impossible without some level of self-awareness. The deeper and longer we are self-aware, the better the opportunities to identify these traps. In becoming aware that certain framing traps exist, we can counter them with specific strategies and tools (Hoch, Kunreuther & Gunther, 2001).
Avoiding Frame Blindness (Hoch et al., 2001), can be accomplished through increasing awareness about your own perceptions, and looking into others' frames for comparison against your own. In addition, having an open mind to allow for other ideas, can also help in breaking down mental barriers you did not know existed. In addition, an earnest search for established assumptions based on experience can also help in avoiding this blindness. For example, when I entered college, I knew I was there for the Men's Varsity Gymnastics team, but also what became equally important, was working to earn a Bachelor's degree in Physics. My perception in my academics was that it came second to my training, and therefore my focus and priority was on the gymnastics team.
Although I always made time to get my homework completed, my time-management suffered, leaving me doing homework late at night, and sometimes the day it is due. When I discovered academic athletic awards from looking at historical university plaques, I learned that I could possibly be removed from the gymnastics team if I did not keep a certain cumulative average. In becoming aware of these athletic provisions and awards, I was able to re-prioritize my efforts and shift my frame of thinking to academics first, and gymnastics second. The perception on my gymnastics changed for the better even though my primary focus was now on academics. The risk here was that my gymnastics could possibly suffer. It turned out I stopped trying so hard in the gym, discovering new gymnastics skills came easier to me than I ever knew!
A second way to avoid framing traps is to evaluate your biases that come from unconscious filtering of valuable information, ideas, and perceptions leading to an Illusion of Completeness (Hoch, et al., 2001). When we unconsciously overlay thoughts and ideas that we tend to favor on top of an existing, or current perception and act on making decision believing we have all the appropriate information needed, we have fallen into an ill-perceived framing trap.
In order to avoid this trap, we need to always understand that we bring positive and negative perceptions from past experience with us into new experiences. Sometimes we recognize a pattern and assign a previous frame to it, influencing our decisions. However, it is here, we need to give each recognized pattern the opportunity to offer us a unique experience. Being aware of what biases we could be possibly assigning this new pattern, can help keep us from falling into this trap. Case and point: In attempt to feel more relaxed at my first joint operations brief, I took what I knew from previous meetings and kept them in mind as I entered this new brief. As I looked around gathering others' behaviors and concerns, I came to realize that my previous experience was not going to apply. Everyone around me was considering multiple sides of a number of issues, whereas, I had only prepared to defend and support a single idea with respect to sensitive activities training with another country. In attempt to keep myself from looking foolish, I immediately dropped all biases from my thinking, leaving me with an open mind to speak from my experience. The risk here, was that I still would not be able to connect on the same page with those at the table.
As I shared my pros and cons on the different training programs over four different countries, I had sparked a new productive discussion on authorities and permissions that allowed for multiple training types to occur in a single country, and afforded myself a new fresh, un-tethered perception of what appeared to be a familiar environment.
A third method of avoiding framing traps would be in preventing overconfidence in one's own frame (Hoch et al., 2001). We tend to feel overconfident within our own frame while undervaluing that of others in support of our own. Even given the knowledge of another perspective, I feel the rigidity of the ego keeps one's own assumption that their own frame is still more valuable than another. For example, shortly after getting married at the age of 34, I had consistently defended a frame of thinking with respect to deciding to purchase a truck. I felt I had earned it over the years, and that it would serve the family in a practical manner for years to come. In feeling this way, I was quite sure that my perspective was more correct than my wife's. However, given some time to consider her frame, and where she was coming from, I increased the value of her frame over mine, and made a different choice. The potential risk in making this adjustment was perhaps never realizing my dream truck. I now own that truck with no regrets.
In the case of each of these traps, I was able to identify inconsistencies, and obstacles within my own frame, and allowing enough flexibility to make a shift, or change from the current framework at the time to one that proved to be more valuable and effective. From these experiences, I am now able to enter into similar situations with a greater sense of awareness, and openness to shifting frames than I had before.
These examples taught me that my experiences alone will not always serve me, other perspectives may be more valuable to me than the one I have for any given situation, I need to remain self-aware of assumptions, biases, and the steadfast holding of ideas from similar experiences, and to give myself the consideration of creating a Joint Fame (Hoch et al., 2001). Some tools I would have implemented had I been aware of them would be the Joint Frame, Prospective Hindsight, Assess the Mental Images, Key stakeholders, and Reference Point Analysis.
I have learned that while I would like to believe my frame has enough value to go forward and make choices based on it alone, it is more valuable to exercise self-awareness to correct assumptions, biases, and specific perceptions I may carry. In addition, keep an open mind to receiving other frames of reference and perspectives to create a more well rounded, and flexible frame myself in hopes to make a wiser decision.
References:
Cotter, M., Elliot, J., Harris, D., Paris, K., Thayer-Hart, N.,...Zanzig, A. (2007). Facilitator tool kit: A guide for helping groups get results. Retrieved from http://oqi.wisc.edu/resourcelibrary/uploads/resources/Facilitator%20Tool%20Kit.pdf
Courtney, H., Lovallo, D. & Clarke, C. (2013, November). Decision making: Deciding how to decide. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/11/deciding-how-to-decide
Hoch, S. J., Kunreuther, H. C., & Gunther, R. E. (2005). Wharton on making
decisions. (1st ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Petty, A. (2011, March 9). Management excellence toolkit-3: How to frame your decisions for success. Retrieved from https://artpetty.com/2011/03/09/management-excellence-toolkit-part-3-how-to-frame-your-decisions-for-success/
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