Our class regarding the first exam score was surely one I will never forget. At first, I believe that there was a universal feeling of excitement and content. We all, for the most part, were happy that we can essentially choose our grades. It's what followed for the next hour or so that was, I guess, the real lesson of the day about decision making.
There are 5 different ways of looking at this type of decision: competing to win, avoidance, compromise, accommodation, and collaborating. Personally, I definitely felt the need to compete in order to get my views across.
The outcome of one's grade was definitely the driving force behind their approach to this ultimate decision. he hardest part of this whole process was that we needed 100% agreement. In the beginning of the class, I thought that we all could definitely reach a great and beneficial agreement. I was supporting the decision to drop the lowest grade and to have the next test be open book. Eventually, we all agreed on dropping the lowest grade so part of my decision was supported.
The approach I tried to use was competing to win, although you can't always win. If I were the one to get a 100 on the exam then I would definitely have used the accommodation approach. Since this wasn't the case, I had to make a note to have my views heard.
The moral of the story is that decision making isn't as easy as is perceived. Deadlines and overall agreement make decision making a tough, but enjoyable task.
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I couldn't agree more with your approach. People who did well on the test definitely had a different approach than others who didn't do as well. People had their own contributing ideas as to why one way was better than the other. I think that the people who ended up doing well on the exam weren't going to be as accommodating because they earned the high grade. Perhaps that's how the professor knew it'd be difficult to reach a decision.
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