“If all the seeds that fall were to grow, then no one could follow the path under the trees.” – Akan proverb
As the moments drift consciously and unconsciously around us, we reflexively make decisions to appreciate the tempos that accompany them. Decision-making is part of the experience that makes us human. We all decide as a matter of fact. And we have made decisions on countless occasions. We make them because we must confront situations; and we make them to reshape ourselves and society. Of the many valuable life skills that society entreats us to develop, the ability to make good and brilliant decisions grades itself at the very top. No other proficiency has such a dramatic impact on how we live life. Our decisions not only determine the quality of our lives, but also years in them.
All kinds of things have been said about decisions. From their spontaneity to the soaring wings of freedom which climax them. Contrary to popular opinion, it is decisions rather than circumstances which shape change. It is our decisions about circumstances that spur us to act and subsequently shape the future. The vast majority of the things that happen to us are result from the decisions we make. Every decision sculpts a line of feature on us till it contributes to what defines us. Unfortunately, the surprising majority among us do not fully think through our decisions. We are so used to making decisions, we simply make them without much thought.
Decisions have lasting effects, which can be positive or negative. That is why we not only have to question every decision we make, but also be actively engaged in it to ensure the intended results are achieved. If we do not do that, we allow the consequences to beat our imagination and take us by surprise. We give our future away willingly and become fixated on circumstances. The existence of consequences makes decision-making a risk versus reward game. It is a game that requires discipline; and a discipline that demands self-denial, sacrifices and purification of motives and intentions. It requires discipline because every honourable activity that makes us human requires it.
Our sensibilities always provide us with information about what is rewarding and what is risky. However, our skill at making decisions daily has artificially inflated our self-worth; and this greatly constricts the efficacy of our senses to really think through the realities of consequences which the world presents to us. Much of what we accept to be the ‘rewards’ of our decisions are basically reflecting our personal aspirations and not the genuine social reality around us. We should never forget that we live on hope and not on surety. We therefore aspire on the positives, and this make it difficult for many of us to even consider negativities even though they are a reality.
This existence of consequences should however challenge us to understand how we go about making decisions. They should become central to our evaluation of our decisions. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we should acknowledge what our fathers have always argued: that “the possession of knowledge is no added advantage”. That is why the certainty of consequences has never been a guarantee that we would get our decisions right. Nevertheless, an understanding of consequential knowledge allows us to actively inform, educate and engage the world about our perceptions and appreciations so that they do not remain parochial. Instead, our knowledge-sharing helps in universal solutions to the how, what, when, where, why and who questions.
Too often, too many of us are into securing bright futures for ourselves and don’t really think through the consequential images that our sensibilities present to us. Today, however, is not the day to assign blame, much less to look for causes of our failure to enrich our decision-making skills through an appreciation of consequences. Today is the day to draw attention to our ruination.
We are so blinded by our dreams that many of us do not really know what we are doing when we make decisions. We take if it for granted that negative consequences will never come out of our decisions. And so we ignore them like we live a sheltered life. But we have been wrong in the past, and we will be wrong in the present and in the future if we continue ignoring consequences in our decision-making.
The primary aim of decision-making is not a communication of desires and aspirations; but is, ideally, directed toward the discovery of truth and its embracing by society. Given this conundrum, the consideration of consequences becomes extremely important in our everyday decisions. For far too long, we have allowed decisions to be a private matter; but they are not.
This statement does not mean that the opposite is true, meaning that decisions must be made publicly. No. Instead, we need to understand that decisions have consequences which extend beyond the maker(s). Every decision we make should therefore have a mix of prudence and neighbourliness blended in, so as to minimise the negative consequences when they appear.
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Kodwo Brumpon is a partner at Brumpon & Kobla Ltd., a forward-thinking Pan African management consultancy and social impact firm, driven by data analytics with a focus on understanding the extraordinary potential and needs of organisations and businesses to help them cultivate synergies which catapult them into their strategic growth and certify their sustainability.
Comments, suggestions and requests for talks and training should be sent to him at kodwo@brumponand kobla.com
