Synthesis on Perception and Individual Decision Making

Perception—that is how we “see” things—remarkably affects choice—that is, decision making. Thus, it
only makes sense that we need to judge how we see things—and whether what we see actually accords
with reality. Only then can we see if our choices and decisions are truly guided and informed. Perception
builds perspective (whether clear or unclear to the person is irrelevant)—this is simply the truth that as
people we make sense of what we “receive” such as ideas, things, and people—through a certain lens
(whether or not this lens has been well-articulated to ourselves). However, one must realize that having
articulated to oneself the lens by which one receives “things” in various contexts can be instrumental in
effective and reflective decision-making. We must know how make sense of the world.

Moreover, we also need to at least approximate and theorize as to what factors contribute to the actions
of people and the conditions they are in. The process of doing this is of course subject to our own biases.
We must understand our limitations, and the inherent propensity that we have for oversimplification.
The biases and errors that we inevitably make, in an organization, is unfortunately linked with human
resources processes. When performances have to be appraised, promotions have to be decided on and
hiring has to be done—in all these, biases and errors are bound to take place. We must appreciate the
fact that one can never be totally objective—and being caught up in the work problems is in and of itself
already a bias problem.

Sadly, we tend to assume that our decision-making is totally rational. The truth is that there is so much
that happens below the surface of rationality. Often, we actually decide intuitively. However, when we
understand these truths in the context of organization behavior, we can choose to be thoroughly
considerate such that we make ethical choices in this context.

Truly, decision qualities are riddles with biases and errors—and therefore, one has to be self-reflective
and attain a great degree of self- understanding. Our ethical and unethical behaviors have to be reflected
upon in a constant basis. We must thoroughly examine ourselves for our prejudices so that we can attain
good critical thinking, creativity, and self-management. Even if an organization’s culture does not foster
clear-cut thinking processes, we ought to for our self-development practice critical thought to our own
thinking so decisions would match to the values that we have set as our own ideals.