Consequences

The concept of consequences is central to the topic of career management. The decisions we take today will have consequences in the future, some of which it is possible to anticipate, some of which we do anticipate, some of which we do not anticipate and some of which we could not possible anticipate.

As I watch the UK government and opposition contend with the consequences of the Brexit referendum, I find myself considering the implications of a political referendum. Somewhat like the ingredients of a cake, there were a wide range of factors mixed into a decision for the UK to leave the European Union. These included the available information, a mixture of facts and propaganda. There was also the receptivity of the voting public to the available information, based on their prior experience.

Then of course there were the agendas of all concerned. Those who provided information, in the decisions they made about what information to present and what information to with-hold. Then there were the agendas of the recipients (voting public) in terms of the information they chose to attend to and the information they chose to ignore.

In making career decisions, we have a range of information available to us, some of it accurate and some of it not so. There are people presenting us with certain information and with-holding other information. We have choices regarding which information we attend to and which we ignore.

As with the Brexit vote, the consequences of the career decisions we take will stay with us. Probably best to make sure we gather as much of the information as we can, verify the reliability of the information sources available to us and try to gauge the long-term impact of our decision. After all, it is dreadful to see people struggle with the consequences of a wrong decision.