Decision-Making Process

Robin R. Fowler

MGT/230

January 26, 2012
Patricia Lott

Decision-Making Process

In March of 2005, I received an email from Classmates.com. As I opened this email, I found that my high school sweetheart was looking for me. Never in a million years did I think that answering this email would change have a long-term effect on my life as well as my sons. Steve and I exchanged many emails and talked every single day for the first month. We both decided to see where this adventure may lead. In April of 2005, Steve boarded a plane in Oakland, CA, and landed in Amarillo, TX. We were so excited to see each other that we spent the few days we had catching up. We had both been married and both were still going through the pain of our divorces. He had no children from his marriage and I had a son. He owned his own home, and my father owned mine. He worked in construction and I worked in the financial industry. We still had a lot of chemistry between each other, and we felt like old friends again. It was very had to see him leave; it was like a part of me was going with him. Over the course of the next few months, we both had enough airline miles for both of us to have free tickets! We talked about making our relationship permanent and maybe one or the other could move. We weighed our options back and forth for a few more weeks. What would be best for all three of us? It was settled, I would be moving, because it made more sense. I was able to fly to California for an interview, and enroll my son in school. While I was still here I received new that my transfer would be going through sooner than I thought. This meant that my house needed to be packed up soon. I started to downsize from living in a 2200 sq. ft. house to living in a 1300 sq. ft. house. I was able to sell my furniture to a friend and have several garage sales. In September of 2005, Steve boarded a plane to Amarillo to pick up his new family and drive them cross country. My son, dog, and myself were ready to start a new adventure in California. We drove for two and a half days to reach our final destination. It has been a struggle, but a good struggle. Steve and I are still together with our dog. My son, unfortunately moved back to Texas to live with my sister. Some things don’t always go as planned. I believe that my decision- making process was similar to that in our book. I identified the issue or problem: Moving. I was able to generate and evaluate alternative solutions: Weighing different options for my son and myself. We made the choice together: I would be moving. Implementing the decision: actually moving. Evaluating the decision: I evaluate this decision on a daily basis. If I did not have these steps to work with in this decision-making, I may not have moved or may not have made a good decision.

References
Bateman, T.S., & Snell, S.A. (2011). Management: Leading & collaborating in a competitive world (9th ed.). New York, ny: Mcgraw-Hill Irwin.