Emotions and complex decision making
Featured in the Using Emotional Intelligence at Work training manual
By Mike Bagshaw
Category: Emotional Intelligence
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
This training activity contains some rather unusual exercises, which enables us to tap into processes that usually lie below the level of awareness. Some people have great difficulty making decisions when everything happens faster and faster, and there are so many decisions to make. This can be extremely stressful, especially for perfectionists. Procrastination and rumination can be bad for their health and well-being. If people want to operate well in a complex, changing environment, they need to get in touch with more primitive aspects of their psyche, and not be controlled by them.
You introduce the training activity by getting the participants to agree that logic is not always enough in helping us take decisive action. This leads to a short presentation and discussion about different ways of viewing reality, and how to make decisions more effectively by using all the channels of experience, imagination and feeling. An exercise, using metaphor, demonstrates how thinking ‘outside the box’ can create useful perspectives. It can also bring enthusiasm, fun and surprise. Metaphors themselves are powerful conveyers of deeply held feelings. A second presentation is given about Antonio Damasio’s research, which challenges the dogma that emotions act against rational decision making. People may not normally access these, but they can help with decision making. An exercise called ‘two chairs’ shows how it is possible to access feelings directly when making decisions. The training activity is rounded off with a guided fantasy, designed to help answer important questions which seem difficult when relying on logic alone.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to show participants how we can use our imagination and senses creatively to help us assess complex situations, and make rational and effective choices.
- Themes:
- Creativity,
- Decision making,
- Managing change,
- Problem solving,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:50:00 |
| No of Pages: | 15 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers in programmes on creativity, decision making, managing change and problem solving.
Download the training activity, Emotions and complex decision making as featured in the Fenman training manual; Using Emotional Intelligence at Work