When is the best time in a day to have a decision meeting?

Turns out, it depends.

As leaders, we are expected to be rational and make our decisions based on facts. Good leaders need to be right a lot and are expected to ignore factors that are irrelevant to the matter at hand. However, it looks like it’s much easier said than done.

I came across this research done in 2011 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221897896_Extraneous_Factors_in_Judicial_Decisions) where parole judges were observed for have their decisions to grant parole or not. It turns out the decisions are affected by the judges’ own hunger level. We know that denying parole is the easier decision to make, since it takes less time to deliberate. According to the research, if a parole hearing takes place before meal or snack break, judges are more likely to deny paroles. In other words, judges tend to strongly favour the easier decision before meal breaks compared to after meal breaks. Of course, correlation is not causation.

Judges are some of the most rational and fact-based decision makers in the world. If the research results generalize, what does it mean in the business world?

What should we do?

I can think of the following:

• Promote a culture of making decisions consistently…