decision diy

It's easy to get stuck as a decision maker. You may have no experience with the particular type of decision that you're facing. You may not have advisors with the time and patience to understand every element of your decision. And it's hard to take in new, fresh perspectives under time pressure.

The thought exercises on this page can help put the spotlight on the elements of your decision that you may not have considered. Find the activities that resonate for you and talk them over with a patient, well-reasoned individual-- preferably someone willing to challenge your status quo.

GREAT from the START

FRAME WITH CARE

Framing your decision is often the most important step in coming to a solid conclusion. By way of example, having a new job opportunity presented to you can easily become: "I need to decide whether to stay at my current job or leave for this new opportunity." This is a poor frame that locks you into a rigid either/or decision. Try something like, "I need my next job to offer me greater fulfillment or income."

EXPAND OPTIONS

Sixty percent of decision-makers limit their thinking by giving themselves only two options ("Is it this or is it that?"). Break free by asking yourself:

Can I do this AND that?
What if the options on my radar right now suddenly became unavailable to me? What would I do then?

Avoid making any decision until you have at least come up with a third option.

DECISION Pitfalls

COMMON thinking errors

Overconfidence bias

Believing our knowledge, ability or success to be better than average, even when we are a beginner or less qualified. "I've never done this before, but of course I'll do great."

confirmation bias

Looking for information that supports our existing beliefs or conclusions. "Sally wasn't so agreeable, but Bob told me that I'll do a great job. There's no way I won't succeed."

availability bias

Relying on information that comes readily to mind when making decisions.

"The last person who did this job made it look easy. How hard can it be?"

anchoring bias

Relying too heavily on the first piece of information learned on a topic.

"No. No. No. I talked to the recruiter who said that the job is a cakewalk. I know you're trying to get me to take it more seriously, but they said I have all the qualifications they need. What more is there to worry about?"

STATUS QUO bias

A tendency to prefer options that maintain one's current situation or state of affairs.

"I'm doing great where I am now. You're going to have to really sell me that I should take this promotion."

check your Confidence

Get the Outside View

Researchers advocate for Getting the Outside View. This is when you look at what happened for others in similar situations. The point in doing this is to avoid basing your predictions based on your own forecasts, and move towards a data-centered point of view.

Who has data or experience that can help you?

A Decision-maker's habit

decision journal

Even when a decision is tough to make, once we have made it, our confidence soars and prevents us from improving our decision-making acumen.

But You Can Learn Quickly
The best way to make quick traction in decision-making acumen is to start keeping a journal of your decisions. Record the options you considered, your factors and who helped you and come back to your journal a few months later. Did your selected option work out the way you thought? Did you consider the right factor set? Were your advisors as helpful as you had hoped?

Get started using the template below.

dECISION jOURNAL template

Printable Decision Journal Template

$27.00