MARKETING The standard definitions If you search for the definition of decision making here are some samples

of what you'll find:

The cognitive process of reaching a decision. A position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration Choosing between alternative courses of action using cognitive processes - memory, thinking, evaluation, etc The process of mapping the likely consequences of decisions, working out the importance of individual factors, and choosing the best course of action to take.

Other disciplines may have a slightly different definition of decision making, for example, games theory or computer programming have variations in their uses for the terminology. And even if you compare models there are variations in each models definition.

So what's a decision? If you look up the definition of a decision it's often referred to as

the act of making up your mind about something, or a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration.

And when people ordinarily consider their own definition of decision making, it is typical that they consider that somehow it is a thinking process, with lots of mental activity involved in choosing between alternatives. But this doesn't include the way some people make decisions. You may have heard people saying

I have a gut feeling I know in my heart I feel it in my bones

So how do we explain this?

More practical definition of decision making This particular definition of decision making is more useful: The process of selecting from several choices products or ideas, and taking action.

Because when people make decisions, they actually use their whole organism, not just their thinking abilities. This whole system approach is considerably more effective than simply 'thinking it through'. Consider, for example, when somebody uses a phrase such as "I knew at the time that I probably shouldn't have chosen this one, but I did it anyway". Usually what happens is that their system is making one choice, and mentally they choose something else. There are basically ignoring their ownbody wisdom. And later, of course, the bad decision comes back to haunt them! The way around this so that you make good decisions is obviously to learn your own signals in your body so that you recognize them when they occur. And the most important thing then, of course, is to pay attention to the signals! There are many approaches and they include the idea of 'sleeping on it', where someone delays making a decision until the following day. This can be very useful in allowing somebody's whole system to align to one particular choice. But even if people sleep on the decision they are still prone to overriding the body signals, because in our culture more emphasis is put on the cognitive aspects of decision making.

The evidence for this lies not just in the defination of decision making (see above) but the emphasis in most of the decision making models is on thestrategies for making the most rational, logical and sensible choice.

You can read an overview of decision making here with a brief description of models, styles and evaluating decisions.

Decision quotes - the importance of decision making

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide. " Napoleon Bonaparte

"The roads we take are more important than the goals we announce.Decisions determine destiny. "
Frederick Speakman

"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want."
Ben Stein

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach."

Tom Robbins

"A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion"
Chinese proverb

"To get anywhere, or even to live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer. "
Robert Heinlein

"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other."
Eric Hoffer

"If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip..."
Eminem

"Sir, What is the secret of your success?" a reporter asked a bank president. "Two words." "And, sir, what are they?" "Good decisions." "And how do you make good decisions?" "One word." "And sir, what is that?" "Experience." "And how do you get Experience?" "Two words." "And, sir, what are they?" "Bad decisions."
Anon

"It is the theory that decides what can be observed. "

Albert Einstein

"Whether you decide you can or you can't, you're right!"

Anon

"No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently."
Agnes de Mille

Decision quotes - indecision

As a decision, this is a poor choice. So some decision quotes about indecision as a decision!

"We can try to avoid making choices by doing nothing, but even that is a decision."
Gary Collins

"Too often, the opportunity knocks, but by the time you push back the chain, push back the bolt, unhook the two locks and shut off the burglar alarm, it's too late."
Rita Coolidge

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes."
Benjamin Disraeli

"It's much better to prepare and not have the opportunity than to have the opportunity and not be prepared."
Anon

"Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor."
H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing."
Theodore Roosevelt

"When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything."
General George Patton

"Decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it."
Gordon Graham

And a few older decision quotes along the same lines... "Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the 'ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome'. You must be willing to fire."
T. Boone Pickens

"There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision."
The Principles of Psychology 1890

"If someone tells you he is going to make a 'realistic decision', you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something bad."
Mary McCarthy

"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over."
Aneurin Bevan

Decision quotes - against reason

And some decision quotes that undermine the idea that rationale and logic is the best way to go.

"One of the saddest lines in the world is, 'Oh come now - be realistic.' The best parts of this world were not fashioned by those who were realistic. They were fashioned by those who dared to look hard at their wishes and gave them horses to ride."
Richard Nelson Bolles

"When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature."
Sigmund Freud

"He that leaveth nothing to chance will do few things ill, but he will do very few things."
George Savile

"Most decisions are seat-of-the-pants judgments. You can create a rationale for anything. In the end, most decisions are based on intuition and faith."
Nathan Myhrvold in "The Microsoft Provocateur"

"The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions."
Mike Krzyzewski

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss.
Noam Chomsky