Hari the Hadron

Sunday, November 07, 2004

AN INSIGHT ON DECISION MAKING

Decision making is not only a key principle in the theory of Scientific Management, but also a very important aspect and function of every human being in everyday life. The importance of this function is all pervasive and sees no barriers like wealth, religion, caste, race etc, in its applicability. We all make decisions in our day to day life both in our official capacities and in our personal life.

Here is a story that tests the human function of Decision-making and let me tell you, in a crunch situation, the line of division between the right decision and wrong decision might be wafer thin. And what more, in such times, you may not be able to justify your decision just on the basis or right or wrong itself. We see a lot more intervening terms like appropriate, populist, rational, compulsive etc.

The Story goes like this……
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make................
Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the said case, if he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.

If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one. Any decision is better if made with a long sighted attitude as in a short sight a decision may seem to be right in terms of compulsion, appropriateness, rationality and so on. But it is always better that we think of the ultimate end and evaluate whether our decision would stand the test of correctness at the end of it all.

"REMEMBER THAT WHAT'S RIGHT IS NOT ALWAYS POPULAR... WHAT IS POPULAR IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT."

18 Comments:

  • Hi everybody. Please feel free to comment. Even criticism will be a compliment.

    By Blogger hari, at 5:51 AM  

  • what a wise post! Very intriguing and thought provoking..
    -kaush

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:05 PM  

  • Hari,
    Great post, let me put one more shackle in the whole desicion process, what if one of the kids playing on the operational track was yours..what would happen..Sometimes desicions are emotional, and we cannot judge from the moral viewpoint

    Anu

    By Blogger Anu, at 8:44 PM  

  • Have seen this before in an email... yet, read it in full. A great post this one is... Well done Hari.

    By Blogger Chakra, at 4:01 AM  

  • DEEPAK HERE:

    HI..nice post tho i remember getting the tracks story on email; at that time also, it had left me quite worried...kitna mushquil hai is duniya mein decisions banana...



    ANU---if u happen to read this, pls tell me how do i post a comment on ur site...tried several times but failed, lemme try it out today again...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:48 AM  

  • hari

    hmmmm... very intriguing. truth to tell, when i first could anticipate the decision i would have to take, even as u began the story, i was scared for wht it would make me do. i was scared for the lone child. god forbid it should happen to anyone.
    perhaps, we need superheroes, to sweep the train off into the skies! :) i know its tangential thinking, but its fun to fantasise, at times!
    but that was a really good read...

    and hari, happy diwali!
    btw, are u a HR guy?

    By Blogger Houseowner, at 10:22 AM  

  • Nice one this....!!! And Happy Deepavali!!!

    And to answer your question on my blog:
    they say "you dont have time to commit all mistakes and learn from them, you gotta learn from other's mistakes also...."
    ha ha ha!!!

    By Blogger Sriram, at 10:59 PM  

  • Hari,
    Thanx for visiting my blog. Will try to catch up u guys in blogger's meet. Already it si posted in lazy geek's blog page.

    By Blogger REFLEX, at 11:28 PM  

  • Hi Kaush,

    Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks very much for the compliment too. I would only be too glad if you could introduce yourself and reveal the name of your blogsite so that I can visit your site and gain some valuable knowledge and become a better person useful to this world.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.

    By Blogger hari, at 3:19 AM  

  • Hi Anu,

    As I said decisions are categorized as right considering extraneous issues such as emotions without evaluating the ultimate results. If one of the kids on the operational track were my kid definitely my decision would have been based on emotions, but on no ground I could have categorized it as right, if I had conscience.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.


    Hi Chakra,

    I got this story through mail from one of my friends. It was very intriguing.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.

    By Blogger hari, at 3:20 AM  

  • Hi Deepak,

    We make so many decisions in our day to day life. But rarely we think whether it is ultimately right or wrong. We just forget if it is appropriate to the situation. At the same time, it is also true that if we begin thinking deep and far before making a decision, we may well end without making any decisions at all and be termed as indecisive.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.

    By Blogger hari, at 3:21 AM  

  • Hi Ramya,

    Your cheers is missing. I enjoy that part very much. It makes you unique. You know as I read the story more and more I found how difficult it would be to make a decision if we take it upon us to analyse the consequence of each situation till the end. On introspection of our earlier decisions, we would find most of them wrong.

    I am a Legal and Corporate Affairs executive but I do have frequent interactions with other departments as I have to think in terms of the organization as a whole.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.


    Hi Jagan,

    Thanks for your comments. A war is composed of many small battles. We may win most of the battles but still find ourselves losing the war ultimately. That is what is life.

    A very Happy Diwali to your and your family.

    By Blogger hari, at 3:23 AM  

  • Hi Hari,
    I do not have a blogger account on blogspot, hence the anonymous post, and honestly my HTML skills are at an all time low(well they were always at an all time low) so did not know how to blend in my link with the post. Although, now I think I have figured it out and will try incorporating it in this one. You have a great blog going here and I could learn a lot from here. Your writing style is such it makes one want to read more and keep reading. Keep up the excellent work and all the thought provoking posts!
    Thanks for the wishes and
    A very Happy Diwali to you and your family as well.
    -Kaush

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:50 PM  

  • Hi Hari....A VERY HAPPY DIWALI TO YOU AND UR FAMILY...enjoy!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:02 AM  

  • Hi Anonymous,

    Thank you very much for the warm Diwali Greetings and wish you and your family too a very Happy Diwali and may everyday in your life be as colourful and bright as the Diwali day.

    I would be much glad if I could get to know your identity since a well wisher is always a friend and friends cannot be anonymous to each other.

    By Blogger hari, at 10:10 PM  

  • DEEPAK HERE:

    no post?

    a new one up at my blog...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:10 AM  

  • long time no posts hari... busy?

    By Blogger Chakra, at 5:44 AM  

  • I have read this story on another blog. But I never grow tired of it. Comments always throw new perspective on this story. Anu's comment made me think, that decision making is not an ordinary activity. You have to weigh pros and cons. Good post Hari. Keep it up.

    By Blogger Yours Truly, at 7:54 AM  

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