Decisions Decisions Decisions!

Each day we are confronted with countless things that require our attention and that we have to make a decision on. To be honest, now as an adult I feel cheated at the sheer amount of opinions I’m meant to have about everything!

No; I honestly don’t care about the plethora of white available for the hallway (at this moment that is- I reserve the right to change my mind later)! Ignoring the butterfly effect and concentrating on the now, when it comes to making a choice, we really are only ever looking at two routes.

• Outcome one: does the decision have a binary outcome, is it one or the other and thus a Zero-Sum choice?
• Outcome two: Can a compromise be made and a middle ground for us to meet in, thus a Non-zero-sum position?

We are faced with constant decisions, often not having all of the information we need for them to be informed. We persevere and hope that everything works out for the best. As adults, we are meant to know what to do, but with so much pressure to perform whilst juggling many plates in a competitive environment, it’s exhausting. Things will fall to the side when having to prioritise our limited time.

You may recall that at the end of last year I started working for an Ethics & Compliance company-Convercent. Promoting ethics in the workplace, a culture based on knowing that every person has value can seem like an uphill struggle. Each role demands a certain type of person, one who views the world through the win/lose mentality and others who see the value of compromise. Compliance, Risk, Ethics, Auditors etc are there to make sure that regardless of outlook, everyone is making decisions that are right. Right for the employees, stakeholders, environment, local and global laws and working to make the world better.

I’m going to be honest, the more I talk with anyone in that space, I’m left flabbergasted at the sheer amount of work the role demands, the different hats they have to own! One of the biggest challenges I see is them having to manually amalgamate the data from different systems, locations, people (both with digital and non-digital access) to understand what is going on and that nothing is falling through the cracks. I’ve no idea how they do it. It is a fun challenge to work with them though- I’m learning so much outside of my own experiences!

Where I thought I was progressive and could view the world through many lenses, what I have discovered is that I have so much more to learn! My challenge for my clients and me is how do we make each and every employee feel heard, seen and understood.

I never realised I was a socialist until this current system failed everyone except the mega-rich whilst pitting everyone else against each other! The world isn’t fair but let’s look at what we can do each day. I bet you that the hardships you face are not someone else struggling to be seen, but that billionaires hoard wealth and tell you it’s your fault.

For me, my memories may as well be from different planets as much as they are from here on earth. From being the child who had to walk miles to collect water for the home, the little farmhand, orphan, butcher, builder, student, foreigner, poor, rich, educated, uneducated, singer, actor, author, employer, employee to now, existing; the only thing that matters is the acknowledgement of people as people.

Whilst we have a plethora of decisions to make, we live in a society that is interconnected. Don’t be swayed by being forced to hate others living, look at the system. The problem is the billionaires that want to maintain the status quo so that you can’t excel. I want better for you. Be kind and together we will make the positive changes for a better world!