I hope this title captured your attention. A lot of research (Google it) supports that intelligent people can do stupid things. Critical thinking requires time, effort, and problem-solving skills; being smart is not enough. Sometimes business owners are victims of always being the boss — not gathering input, multi-tasking, being in too great of a hurry, impatience, etc. One of my favorite quotes is “I know I’m intelligent because I know that I know nothing,” attributed to Socrates.
Hopefully as we mature, we get wiser and more reflective, but that’s not always the case. Decision making can also be about evaluating risk. Frequently, we just fail to think things through, and the easy, short-term decision can turn into a long-term nightmare. Here are 10 of the more frequent poor business decisions I have encountered.