It appears that people are much happier using their biases or intuition than a structured decision making tool, that according to Jean Steinberg, PhD from the National Institute of Mental Health. She does go on to say, however, that the more structure and simplification provided in a complex decision the more accurate the decision.

In another study by Paul Nutt, Ohio University, 91% of business owners felt they made good decisions. In reality 60% of those were a bust. And even more disturbing, according to this research, 60% of decision makers never explored any alternative after they made up their minds.

What causes us as business owners to make poor decisions? See if any one of these Decision Making Traps sound familiar.

#1. Overconfidence in your judgment — you fail to collect critical data because you are so sure of your assumptions and opinions. When you allow assumptions to go untested, the chances of making a bad decision increase. Assumptions sound like this: This service will save us money. Use a clarifying statement with all assumptions — Please give me an example of how this service will save us money — and you will increase your ability to make good decisions.

#2. Shooting from the hip — guilty as charged. With this decision making trap you believe you can keep straight in your head all the information you've discovered and you wing it instead of following a systematic procedure when making a final choice. Write it down! Write down your reasons for thinking something is a good idea and continue to ask questions that force you to probe deeper — How will we measure or what makes me think or why am I considering this now.

#3. Not keeping track — when we make a bad decision, our preference is to simply forget it ever happened. Instead, if you make it a point to write down how you came to that decision and you spend a little time analyzing what went wrong, chances are pretty good you won't go there again. Ignoring the impact of those bad decisions won't help us learn key lessons.

#4. Plunging in — we jump in without really understanding what the real issue is. We start to gather information and because we are either in a hurry or there is a crisis brewing, we jump to conclusions without really understanding the root cause of an issue. Chances are we may make a decision that doesn't address the real problem.

#5. Group failure — assuming that with so many smart people involved, good choices will automatically follow. I've also seen this called 'group think' when just because the group aligns behind something their collective thinking must be right. Too often companies shun people who come across as playing devils advocate. They are perceived of as difficult or not a team player. Listening to dissenting voices may stop you from making some bad decisions.

Take the time in 2009 to think about how you make decisions and how you model that behavior for your team. Come up with a simple but consistent way to review how you are making decisions. Don't let these decision making traps cost you valuable time or money.

This was a question posed by Dave Ramsey from Fox Business Network on Good Morning America this morning, Jan. 8, 2009. He went on to say, "Or is he (Santa Claus) every business owner who lives on the fruited-plains of America who are responsible for producing the goods and services that drive our economy".

I've said this a dozen times — our economy will NOT be 'fixed' by government, education or religion — our economy's health has always relied on the force that good 'ol capitalism brings to bear on all aspects of that economy.

Business owners by their very nature are confident, self-assured, smart, they work hard, they listen to what their clients need, they design systems that improve their ability to be flexible and nimble.

When they relax their diligence, when they stray from the very values they started their company on, when they allow complacence to set in or when they take themselves too seriously, when greed becomes their motive for staying in business, they struggle and sometimes they go out of business. And you know what? They should! There is no free ride. Hard work is what made this country great and it's hard work that produces success. Not handouts. Not bailouts. Not government funded financial or banking systems.

People that run businesses are the backbone of this country. According to Inc. Magazine, emerging growth businesses, those businesses who start out small and grow rapidly, created almost as many jobs, 10.7 million, as the entire US economy, 11.1 million jobs, from 1995 to 1999. That's a huge statement on the innovation, the creativity, the sheer tenacity of bright-minded every day people deciding to follow their dreams and make their run at living the American dream.

Now, if you remember, starting around 1999 and continuing into 2002, the dotcom blow up took place, wiping out many businesses and wiping out many jobs. That impact reverberates today. The point is the economy did come back from that experience, businesses that didn't lay a solid foundation are gone and the ones that followed the time-honored rules of business are still around.

Lots of businesses are doing well today. I saw revenue growth in my own business of over 56% and clients that I'm working with are seeing tremendous growth and opportunity.

I've seen this in print many times and I'm happy to repeat it. Turn off your TVs, your radios and stop reading the gloom and doom editorials. Be smart. Be confident. Continue to be diligent with your spending and flexible with your clients. Business owners will provide the grist this economy needs to get back on its feet. That's my opinion, what's yours?