I was listening to a couple of people on the radio this week in the US talking about their support for the Red or the Blue side of politics. It is a concern how some people want their side to win so badly, they simply don’t care what the other side says and will excuse their side for many misgivings. That reminded me of the power of our motivation to create positive and negative blockers to sound decision making.

A positive blocker is something that creates resilience to your decision making while a negative blocker is something that stops you from seeing the reality of a situation. An example of a positive blocker is having a noble purpose, think of it as a noble quest. A negative blocker could be an all or nothing incentive system where you are driven to extremes to make your numbers.

Another example of a negative blocker is your need to be right. How often do you find yourself in a situation where your technical expertise tells you something should be done a certain way and someone without your understanding simply doesn’t get it? Some things simply must be technically correct, however, many things simply don’t need to be. Adhering to industry best practice can hold you back from sound decision making.

Check your motivation. Are you letting your desire to be right prevent you from a sensible compromise?