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Avoid the Proverbial Knee-Jerk Reaction

“They did what?! Even after I told them not to?! Well, I’ll just teach them a thing or two!”

Hold on just a doggone minute. You are having a knee-jerk reaction. Somebody has done something you told them specifically not to do. And now it’s come to your attention. Your immediate reaction is to take them to task for it. But…

You are reacting from emotions and with insufficient information. Knee-jerk reactions are common and understandable, but should always be avoided. Emotion is rarely a good element in decision making. Never make a decision when you are mad at someone. Never make a decision when you are overly happy with someone. Wait and allow the emotion to pass and then gather information and analyze it.

We rarely have all the information we need in these circumstances, either. If we allow our emotions to rule, we forget that the first step in the decision-making process is to gather information. But if you allow yourself a knee-jerk reaction, you operate only with the initial information that caused that reaction. There’s always more information available than we have initially.

In our previous example, investigate first. You may well discover that there was a very good reason someone violated your guidance. They may even deserve a commendation, not a hollering.