I have a tendency to be well organised and I'm known for being a bit of a planner...I'm sure I drive Kash mad...frequently...with my planning skills, especially as he is more of a 'last minute dot com' person!
With planning comes anticipation and I suspect I sometimes do over-anticipation, if there is any such thing. I mentally rehearse 'what might happen when...' and more importantly, 'what might happen if...', to help me to make a decision.
...and then I sometimes exhaust myself, coming up with 101 different scenarios that 'might happen if...'. In reality, my planning and anticipation might mean that I am fully prepared for what does happen when I do actually make the decision and commit to a course of action. Often, going through those 101 scenarios does enable me to come across hidden consequences that I would never have seen unless I had explored the 101 options...and on those occasions, discovering those consequences can radically change my course of action.
The downside is that whilst I am mentally rehearsing 101 options and following the potential path of consequences, others, who have a very different strategy for decision making, have made a decision, run with it and left me standing!
Now, before you start thinking I'm just a ditherer and a procrastinator, I do want to clarify that this is only one of my decision making strategies - the one I often deploy when my decision is going to have an impact on others...my family or friends, ANLP members, conference delegates etc! I mentally rehearse the impact of my decision on various members of the group to anticipate their reaction/response.
If my decision only impacts on me, then I have a very different strategy which doesn't involve anticipation or mental rehearsal at all...which could drive Kash equally mad, especially when it comes to impulse buys when clothes shopping!
So what is my happy medium, I wonder? Could I develop a strategy that balances both impulse decisions and well thought through, planned decisions? Or am I happy that my strategies already work for me - reflecting and considering others when I have to and enjoying the impulsiveness when I can!