The Power of Choice

By : Yoga Nesadurai via M'Kini

There are many management theories in the market place to help organisations and individuals improve. Some of these are new, others are old theories dressed up as new and some others are words of wisdom from experts.

I would like to introduce a fundamental theory that is very powerful and easy to apply but often overlooked. I am talking about 'choice'.

Webster defines choice as, ‘a selection, an alternative, the right or power to choose’.

It comes down to a very simple step - to act or not to act on the choice. It represents a verb, an action, thereby giving the chooser the power to choose from a selection or if just two, an alternative. What it ultimately points to is that the power is with you.

To make a choice, we need options. There are times when we have no options and therefore the choice is automatic. But in most cases we do have options available to us and I want to work through the deduction process here.

Options are derived based on a stimulus. A stimulus is a trigger in the form of information or an event that requires action from us. Stimuli present themselves to us every day; and very quickly and sometimes automatically we know the options available to us based on the stimulus. From here we make our choice.

I was at a mall recently. Having parked my car, I walked towards the lift. To get to the lift required me to open a set of doors to the waiting area. As I opened the door, I realised that a lady was walking some distance behind. I knew that within four steps she would be at the door too. I proceeded to wait with the door opened for her. I saw a little startled face looking back at me.

She said “Thank you, not many people bother these days.”

I responded by saying ”You are welcome. You were not too far away, so I thought I would wait for you.”.

She then said, “Most of the time I have the total opposite experience.”

I had a couple of options - to hold the door open or to let it shut behind me. I had the power of choice and I chose to act on it. The result - a small action on my part – had a huge impact on the recipient.

This simple example is applicable to any situation. How many such incidents have we let pass in our organisations that led to revenue floating out the door? I see it all the time in the service industry because a staff member did not exercise his/her choice with regard to helping a customer, colleague, manager or department.

Evaluating options

Now that we have deduced options, what does evaluating our options involve? :

In the case of the lady at the car park, it seemed like pure common sense to treat her as a fellow human being and hold the door open for her. This required me giving her the respect that I wanted bestowed upon me.

It requires courage and commitment to act on your choice. This is the ‘locking in’ step in the ‘power of choice’ process.

There have been many instances where I have held the door open for others and not received any form of gratitude, let alone acknowledgement of the act. Sometimes the indifference of the offer is shown prior to the other person getting to the door.

This is where courage comes in. No matter what the response, I still hold on to my original intent or choice - the courage to stand by my offering and the commitment to follow through with action.

Information or an event is the stimulus that makes us take action. There are various stimuli that present themselves everyday to us. Between the stimulus and our response, lies choice!.

Attitude is our ‘way of being’ or ‘steady state’. Generally, we are all aware of our general attitude towards people and situations. Sometimes due to circumstances, like having a bad day, our attitude could vary from its natural ‘steady state’.

Where information is the stimulus that helps us derive our options, attitude is the component that helps us make the choice from our options. Attitude is therefore an important ingredient in the choices we make. It has a huge impact in making our choice and its consequences.

Making great choices

We have all made unwise choices at some point in our lives. It is sometimes inevitable, sometimes intentional, sometimes regrettable and sometimes transformational.

Inevitable choices are where the alternative is not a viable option. This is a case where an organisation needs to downsize, assuming all other avenues have been explored. In this instance the best thing one can do is to carry this out in the most humane manner with honesty and integrity.

Intentional choices are where you know that the alternative option is the wisest option, yet you intentionally choose the opposite option. In organisations, this is when we may bypass a certain process or person intentionally for various reasons. Or where we circumvent a certain procedure because we have the power and privilege to do so. Corruption is a classic example of the latter

Regrettable choices are where at the point of making the choice you are ‘aware’ of what the wisest choice is, however your steady state or way of being at that moment stops you from acting on it. These are usually choices made when emotions are running high, where you regret your choice as soon as have you made it or regret the choice as the words have left your mouth.

How many of us have been in this situation in the workplace and personal life? The power is still in the chooser’s hands to undo the wrong and recover the situation.

Transformational choices are what we should all be aspiring to achieve. In this instance, we take control and are accountable for making great choices. Accountability means taking responsibility for the choices made.

Even if you have made an unwise choice, you are in control to remedy it or to deal with the consequences. It is a big responsibility to be accountable, but one with many rewards when executed.

Learning to make transformational choices gives us the power to be extraordinary, therefore directly impacting you as an individual and the organisation that you represent.

Choice is an active process. It is the difference between a customer continuing to do business with your organisation versus taking their business elsewhere. Use it wisely.