Better Decisions Through the Application of Positive Psychology

Decsion making is a necessary and integral part of life. This paper examines several specific concepts related to decision making and attempts to demonstrate how to create a positively charged culture that embraces change, attracts talent and improves decision making. First we will discuss how leveraging our personal strengths instead of focussing on our weaknesses can lead to a culture that emboldens people to take appropriate risks and encourages them to focus on the opportunities in change. Second, we will discuss how having positive, high quality relationships creates a supportive workplace that attracts and retains talent and fosters collaboration. Third, we will explain how being engaged in what we do, finding meaning in our work and recognizing and acknowledging the role emotions play in our lives can all positively affect our decision making abilities. Fourth, we will discuss how all of us utilize decision making short cuts called heuristics that often serve us well but can sometimes lead to unhelpful biases. We will describe some of the most common heuristics people use and the potential biases they produce and offer some suggestions on how we can overcome these biases, when appropriate, to make the best decisions possible. Finally, we will discuss how positive emotions affect decisions as well as result from the decision making concepts discussed