Make Smarter Decisions

Maximize satisfaction. Minimize regrets.

What is the cost of not learning? Or not learning how to make better decisions?

by 26 Comments

price-tag-1240865-1279x768

Today’s post is going to vary a bit from my decision dilemma and decision analysis posts. We are going to be looking at the idea of “choosing not to learn” and the “costs of not learning’ (and not learning to make better decisions).

I am currently a Leadership Team member for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant. The grant aims to prepare K-12 “Master Teacher Fellows” for leadership in math and science education in urban settings. Today, I participated in the first of a two-day workshop for the NSF grant on developing leadership identities. I was excited to be a learner today (rather than a presenter), even though I have a doctorate in Educational Leadership and have experience with this topic.

The workshop presenter is Lucy West, a nationally known speaker on instructional practices, content-focused coaching, and leadership development. During a discussion about school culture and teacher self-awareness, Lucy brought up the point that all of us (not just struggling students) “choose not to learn” at points in our life. She then asked us to think about– “What is the cost of not learning?” And I quickly connected that to the work I am doing on helping people make smarter decisions.

Lucy explained how it had cost her seven years and almost $5000 choosing not to learn Tai Chi. It wasn’t that she didn’t attend Tai Chi classes in those years or that she wasn’t interested in learning Tai Chi. Lucy said that she just never practiced it outside of class or learned it well enough to do it on her own. She was exposed to it and tried it, but never really learned it.

Then it was our turn to think of something we chose not to learn. My mind immediately went to my choice not to learn how to play the piano. I took piano for six (long) years and participated in the yearly recitals. You would have thought that I would have learned how to play in that length of time – but I really didn’t. I went to my lessons and even got to the point of playing some difficult pieces, but I never actually learned how to read the bass clef (the lower notes you usually play with your left hand). I somehow figured out a way to play the notes by memory, but I never took the time to learn how to read the music.

When I thought about the “cost of not learning” to play piano, I realized this was an instrument I could have played throughout my life. I wasted a lot of time and energy (and my parents’ money) and at times I still regret the decision to quit and not actually learn it… (And yes, this may be something I put back on my “to do” list now that I have more time after Turning Down The Full-Time Job I was offered!)

So are you already thinking about a few things you have “not learned” and what some of the costs were too? I thought that might be the case!

Lucy went on to discuss school culture and the importance of the adults in the school being learners and maintaining an intellectual curiosity. She explained that the adults need to model learning and an attitude of persistence for students, and this in turn will help students see learning and their own efforts as being valuable too.

As I thought about it more throughout the day, I jotted down - Learning needs to become “What you do” and not “what you have to do”…

So, what is the “cost of not learning” for students? Well you can probably guess many of the costs. Those decisions result in a tremendous waste of time (for both the student and the teacher), money and other resources. This “not learning” can also cause anger and resentment (for both the student and teacher again), and an increasingly negative school culture.

The focus of our workshop and the NSF grant is to help “grow” teacher leaders who will positively influence school culture and use strategies to motivate students to want to learn. They will then help lead change with other teachers as well. This will hopefully reduce many of the “costs” related to student’s “not learning” over time and change the culture of the school.

So what does this have to do with you and the focus of this blog?

I am hoping that as I can play the role of “teacher leader” in terms of reducing your “costs of not learning” how to make better decisions in the past! I also hope you will see the value of making a “choice to learn” more about various ways to make better decisions in the future.

The first thing I’d like you to consider is Lucy’s original question. The “costs of not learning” to make better decisions are similar to the costs of students choosing to “not learn” in school. They may result in problems related to:

  • Personal growth and development
  • Building or maintain relationships
  • Financial struggles
  • Social or emotional challenges

And probably a lot more…

So why can’t we all just learn to make better decisions?

Here are just a few of the Obstacles to Learning that we discussed with Lucy today. They apply to decision-making as well and they may play a role in your “choosing not to learn”.

  • Being blind to your biases (or not knowing what you don’t know!)
  • Needing to look good (not appear incompetent, back your prior decisions)
  • Not allowing others to teach you anything (you already know it, have experience)
  • Thinking you have to do it by yourself (or not knowing when/how to seek help)
  • And probably the biggest one - Not having time…

Is there anything we do about it?

Well sure, if you are willing to put in some effort! These are a few ideas we discussed related to the Self-Management of Learning. It was suggested to have students choose one or two things to focus on and then add new ideas as time goes on.

  • Figure out what you are having trouble with and be strategic as to how you will address specific issues
  • Pace yourself
  • Hold yourself accountable to high standards of understanding (and ask for help when needed)
  • Control the conditions of your learning – know what works for you
  • Participate actively and collaboratively – help others understand
  • Work productively without distractions for sustained periods of time*

(*OK – that last one is a real challenge and something I have to make plans to do more often. I know it will help my learning!)

I am looking forward to tomorrow and another day of making the choice to learn! It won’t cost me anything.

Is there anything you have “chosen not to learn” and was there any “cost” involved? What are some other costs that might be involved if people choose not to learn how to make better decisions? Can you think of other obstacles to learning? Or ways to self-manage the learning?

 

Photo credit: [email protected]

Obstacles to Learning Ideas - adapted from talk given by Julia Olalla, Newfield Network

Self-Management in Learning Ideas -adapted from Resnik & Hall, Principles of Learning for Effort Based Education

What House Should We Buy? A Decision That Could Wreak Havoc In Our Lives

by 5 Comments

abode-987096_1280

Well it’s a new week but before we look at a new decision analysis, I was happy to see that Sam over at the Financial Samurai made the decision to “keep his baby” and not sell the house! It was also neat to see his use of the decision matrix I shared in my guest post on his site, Make Better Decisions With A Decision Framework: Trigger Events And Emotional Biases Are Everywhere.

I used a “qualitative” chart with mostly descriptive terms in that analysis. I went back to one of my own decisions and added a more “quantitative” chart to the decision-making process, as well as a combined chart (words and numbers) that might help some of you. Check out The Extended Job Contract – The Final Steps, I Turned Down the Full-time Job.

This week’s decision question is “What house should we buy?” This post is based on a house purchase we made in 2012 (and still own today). I will share that I doubt we would have bought this house if we used a better decision-making process. Here is the background to the story…

After earning my doctoral degree in Educational Leadership in 2011, I decided that I wanted to leave my job as an Assistant Principal. I missed teaching and felt like I had a great deal to share with students who wanted to become teachers. So I used the decision-making framework I learned in my doctoral program and left my job of 23 years (not something many people in public education do with that many years of service).

I took a position as a professor at a private college about 90 minutes from home. With kids in high school, I knew that I would need to commute for at least a few years (and that it was likely we would never move to this new town). The job had a highly flexible schedule (2.5 days/week), reasonable pay, tuition reimbursement for my two kids who were approaching college age, and it was in a beautiful setting with nice colleagues (think teaching at a “country club”). I was excited and energized for a new challenge!

My schedule included one-night class per week with an early morning class the following day. So my husband and I decided that I would stay there one night per week which also limited the commuting. This is where the question started - “What House should we buy?”

That thought may never have crossed your mind, but as someone who bought her first house at 22 and a foreclosure investment property at 25 (which I still own), I am always looking at real estate. When we visited originally, my husband and I had looked at properties within walking distance to the college and they were incredibly cheap (undergraduate students could not live off campus at this college).

We found a nice duplex (total of 4 bed/3 bath) in a good neighborhood for $82,000. (YES, for some of you I know you will find that hard to believe…) I could rent out one side for $750/month and stay on the other and the owners would even hold the mortgage. (This was important since we were also in the process of buying a small apartment complex. That decision can become a post in the near future!) So we bought the house and I got ready to start my job.

We began a search for tenants and found some great folks. In the process, I even found a roommate for my side of the duplex. She was an education consultant in the area a few days each month and we have now become friends as well! We even visited her in Florida and ended up buying a small and incredibly inexpensive vacation property – one mile to a beautiful beach! This will likely become our winter home in a few years. (And yes, another post on buying vacation properties is coming up too!)

At this point we were thankful for great renters, an awesome roommate, and for not having to pay for staying over one night each week. A sound investment in our minds!

And it was all fine - for two years… until I felt the job was not the right fit. A new position more closely aligned with my experience came up (in a town a few hours away) and I accepted the position.

Who knew you could change jobs so frequently? My parents worked at the same jobs almost all their lives, so did my husband and so do my friends. We had never really thought a better job would come up. So even though we had briefly discussed that this job “might not work out”, we purchased this property without much hesitation.

Now we were long distance landlords – not that long, but long enough. We manage all of our rental properties and they are close by. What problems might we face now?

If the tenants were to move out, we would need to find (and pay) a property manager or drive 90 minutes each way to show the property. We did that once and the person had 4 dogs they never bothered to mention when we spoke. Needless to say - we were not happy! (They thought we might like them enough after we met them to allow that…) And a 90-minute drive each way for any repairs too, unless we hired someone to do that.

We had not planned for a property manager and someone else doing the maintenance when we purchased the house.

I am happy to report that as of right now, we have the same original renters and life is good! But we understand this property could (and still may) give us a great deal of grief someday…

So where did our decision-making process break down? I am sure you have some ideas and if you read my earlier posts, you can probably name a few specific issues.

  • The “Trigger Event” was having to stay over one night a week because of my schedule. Without teaching a night class (that was consistent in my schedule each term), I would likely have just commuted.
  • Our Decision Question was much too narrow! Buy and house are both very limiting words and that is obvious now. In the excitement of a new situation and with our past experiences, it just “made sense” at the time.
  • We didn’t follow the decision-making process. We were so “caught up” in three major decisions (a job change, buying the small apartment complex, and finding a house in the new town) that we made too many assumptions and skipped writing out the process. Writing is deeper thinking and I know we didn’t write out our goals or consider creative options…
  • Our own personal bias toward the purchase of rental properties was another issue. I was brought up in a family who all purchase rental properties, so this just made sense to us. I never thought much about handing some else rent money!
  • Another key blindspot was that we sought out reasons to confirm this purchase and failed to really seek advice from others. It was a great house, at a great price – a sure investment, so what could go wrong?

As I said, we were lucky and we appreciate our tenants but this could change at any point.

Later this the week, I will post the decision analysis we should have used to make this decision. We can learn from our mistakes, but I would prefer to prevent them in the future!

Sharing our stories also allows us to learn from each other. I hope you will see the importance of a broad decision question, ranked goals, generating creative options and the use of a decision matrix.

Making mistakes on major life decisions like this can have serious financial consequences and set you back years on your life goals.

Have you reflected on a major decision and noticed flaws in your process - even if it turned out OK? Maybe it didn’t turn out so well… Help us learn from your story!

Also checkout Part 2 to this post - Is Buying NOT a smart decision? It shows a decision matrix and the different options we should have originally considered!

 

Photo credit: [email protected]