Mosaicproject’s Blog, based on a study conducted by CSIRO, discusses the point that despite the common belief, under some circumstances people will not necessary make decisions ground in rational thinking. The study makes the observation that “many aspects of observed human decision-making differ from the ‘rational’ behaviour assumed in economic models”. It further states that “For all but the simplest of decisions, people generally do not attempt to find the optimal solution, but rather apply simple decision-making strategies”.

The report is full of interesting ‘gems’ and reading it in full is highly recommended. Few of the fascinating observations raised in this study include the following:

• Humans are naturally inclined to be risk averse and will tend to choose an option that minimizes their risk exposure even if rationally a better option should have been selected.
• People tend to value things they already hold more than equivalent things they do not have
• As tasks become more complex so will the tendency to procrastinate become bigger
• People are uncomfortable with uncertainty and might engage in excessive fact-finding initiatives to try and obtain more information.

The implication to project management is that the expectation of achieving %100 success rate in any but the most simple projects, is delusional at best. Somewhere, between your Scope, Cost, Time, Quality or any of other constraints attributed to your project, SOMETHING WILL HAVE TO GIVE and you’d better get used to it!

I value your comments, if you have any thoughts on the above please join in and share with others!

Related posts:

1. Project Management Science Corner – Decision Making
2. The Paradox of Choice