Disadvantages of Being Reactive

Conceding Power

Do you consciously make the majority of your personal and professional decisions or do you find they are often made on your behalf? If you have a tendency toward the latter, your locus of control is external and this can be a disempowering way to live life. Imagine you are part of a sales team. If your sales department is waiting for potential customers to inquire for a service or product, the chances are much greater that your team’s sales will be lower compared to a sales department that is actively refining its target market, developing an understanding of their needs and proactively reaching out to them.

Working in a cycle of reactivity can lead to a sense of powerlessness, an emotion that can wreak havoc on our self-confidence and productivity. Our ability to work through setbacks depends on a belief that we can control events that can enhance our lives.

Increased Risk of Emotional Decision-Making

Allowing yourself to slip into reactive decision-making can be inefficient and costly. It can also increase the chances that emotions will influence your actions when it might be best for composure to be in charge.

Think about a time when you received an email from a friend or co-worker that emotionally got you heated. Did you respond immediately from a place of emotion or did you take a pause and respond only once you had the chance to cool down? Odds are that you’ve been in both situations before. It’s likely that if/when you’ve responded from that emotionally “hot” place, you didn’t say what you would have ideally liked to have said nor did you frame in it the way that would be most well received. Reactive or emotional decision-making comes from an unproductive ego place that values being seen and heard over offering a creative and productive solution.

A pattern of reacting to events on a chronic basis creates stress, disempowerment and anxiety in you and the people around you. Most people don’t operate well when faced with uncertainty in high-pressured situations. When we procrastinate on decisions, external events often wind up driving our behavior. Research  has also demonstrated that making decisions based on emotion may not only affect that specific decision but can also compound and affect subsequent decisions throughout the day or week. You wouldn’t file a lawsuit without any evidence, would you? Responding with emotion rather than taking the time to become grounded often has a similar and undesirable effect.

The decision maker who makes a habit of proactive decision making and planning may still react emotionally when a problem arises. The difference is that the proactive person will feel more in control. They’ve likely played through different scenarios and understand the risks and rewards of each of them. There is comfort in knowing in advance what steps to take and that the right resources are available at the time of crisis.

Problem Explosion

It can be tempting to ignore a problem and hope it will resolve itself. However, it is much more likely the problem will grow more complicated. If a co-worker challenges us and we don’t confront them, it’s likely the problem will become more entrenched, thus becoming even more difficult to address. Ultimately, the working relationship may become untenable and will result in a dramatic conflict. This conflict could have been easily avoided with a difficult, yet manageable conversation early on. When we delay taking necessary actions when issues arise, the problem is likely to ultimately be more damaging.