Value based decision making

@Random

Business, as they say, is all about 'Value' creation by fulfilling some needs. In doing so, the major issue, organizations come up with is 'Decision Making' (DM) - Given the limited resources, they keep asking 'What to do?', 'How to do?'. As Porter said, business strategy is all about making choices. However, it's one of the most difficult things to do, given the grays, maroons and violets,  the context of DM spans across.  Something that helps companies make quicker and probably what they call 'right' decision is having prioritized "core values". One example recently I read was from Johnson & Johnson. How its then CEO, James Burke, made a decision, which literally make the busting company come back, post the Tylenol cyanide episode. The company had the prioritized values as: customers, employees and shareholders in that order which simplified the otherwise humongous & complex decision making process.

Decision Making in personal life is as complex, if not less, as of that of business - time & energy consuming, its grayness. So, will having prioritized set of personal values help one make quicker and righter decisions? I felt the answer should be "yes". Yes, values may not be a cure-for-all for all the DM problems in life, but could definitely help in reducing its complexities. History tells the same: People with strong values make tougher decisions and achieve otherwise difficult to achieve things - Gandhi (Non-violence), Harichandra (Truth), Karna (Generosity). If you think these are too old to be practical: Mohammad Yunus (Economic development for poor), Kalam (Technology dev for 3rd world country), Dhoni (Always Team First). Yes, there will be millions of examples.

Few additional things that I felt about values:

• There needs to be a strong association with the values. We need to live by it
  
• Not that all the values have to be fixed through out our life. As we mature, values can get moulded. But some of the most important and core values have to be static
  
• Values are not just meant for accomplishing big things in life. It helps even making day-to-day decisions simpler. E.g. Meeting a good old friend Vs GF, or working Friday late hours Vs taking your kids for a movie
  

Ok, fair enough. Agreed that we need to have values. It's not just the realization which is difficult - it's actually coming up with the real personal values. Yeah, absolutely. There is no systematic process to find it out than to do a relaxed but determined self-inquiry.

May be on a relaxed weekend, go to a desolate island, a beautiful beach, a lush garden, a lovely park, a country side travel, or simply your own balcony.. Sit with a freshly brewed coffee or a refreshing Darjeeling tea and set your mind on what particular virtues made you completely being yourself, at the same time, everyone (including you) felt happy and proud about you.. Balance between past (how we were) and future (how we want to be).. It might give us a glimpse of our values..

The third and probably the most difficult part is "living" one's own values. Environment may not be positive, situation may not be conducive, we still need to live it.  The more the struggle we go through, the stronger will be the association between us and our values. The stronger the association gets, the struggle becomes lesser. Not to mention, the reduced complexity of decision making! :)

[After thought] Added after a day:

Ok, I wrote only the positive side of the story of having values. Yes, values could lead to conflicts, which in turn could be destructive. Countless examples in the history. So, it's not just important to have values for oneself, but rather respect others' values as well.  In fact, it should be our first value to have non-destructive, positive values, giving enough value to others' values. :)

 

@Regular

Travelled to Hyderabad for D's marriage - Visited Hyd after quite some years. Felt the city refreshing and probably much more developed. Got to meet good old friends.  Good weekend trip!

As I writing this blog, Slumdog millionaire got 8 records and our fav. ARR got 2 Oscars as well. Was touched by his humbleness when he thanked his mom and God (yes, in Senthamizh!). Some connection with the book I started - Shantaram - A long time pending one. But this biggie needs quite some free time to finish off.

I should definitely write about this philosophical tamil song "Pitchai Paathiram" from Naan Kadavul by Ilayaraaja. It kept me hooked to it last week. Deeply meaningful, probably asks why there is much ado about life, its struggle, its constant materialistic search and the constant "me me me"? Even your body is not our creation - the lyricist (Ilayaraja) says we are all beggars and our body the plate we carry.