The recallability decision-making trap prompts us to give undue weight to recent dramatic events.
Illustration: We were at the beach recently, and my son got stung by a jellyfish. And to be fair, this was no minor sting.It was one of the worst stings I’ve ever seen, with the burns all over his arms, legs, and side. Needless to say, my son(who is 5 years old) informed me that he would never swim in the ocean again. I told him son, you’re falling into the recallability decision making trap. I’m kidding… but he was definitely giving undue weight to recent dramatic events.
In business, I have made this decision-making error most often in the area of sales calls or activity. There have been times where an appointment will just go really badly. I can think of one time where a 30 minute sales call turned into a 2 hour ordeal and of another time where we literally couldn’t get to an important appointment due to traffic in downtown Nashville because of the NFL draft preparation.
Sometimes right after failures like that, it’s hard to shake it off and move on to the next one. The recent dramatic events loom large in your mind.
This trap is overcome by discipline and determination. Sometimes you will dramatically fail. And sometimes you will dramatically win. The key is to not give undue weight to either event. Keep plugging away and know that each new day presents new opportunities and challenges. With that mindset, you’ll be back in that ocean water sooner than you know. Oh, and my son was back in the water the next day.
