Decision Making Skills Start Here!

How to make good decisions,

with James Manktelow & Amy Carlson.
All of us have to make decisions every day.
Some decisions are relatively straightforward and simple: Is this report ready to send to
my boss now?
Others are quite complex: Which of these candidates should I select for the job?
Simple decisions usually need a simple decision-making process. But difficult decisions
typically involve issues like these:

Uncertainty Many facts may not be known.

Complexity You have to consider many interrelated factors.
High-risk consequences The impact of the decision may be significant.
Alternatives Each has its own set of uncertainties and consequences.
Interpersonal issues It can be difficult to predict how other people will react.

With these difficulties in mind, the best way to make a complex decision is to use an
effective process. Clear processes usually lead to consistent, high-quality results, and they
can improve the quality of almost everything we do. In this article, we outline a process
that will help improve the quality of your decisions.

A Systematic Approach to Decision Making

A logical and systematic decision-making process helps you address the critical elements
that result in a good decision. By taking an organized approach, you're less likely to miss
important factors, and you can build on the approach to make your decisions better and
better.
There are six steps to making an effective decision:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Create a constructive environment.

Generate good alternatives.
Explore these alternatives.
Choose the best alternative.
Check your decision.
Communicate your decision, and take action.

Here are the steps in detail:

Step 1: Create a constructive environment

To create a constructive environment for successful decision making, make sure you do
the following:

Establish the objective Define what you want to achieve.

Agree on the process Know how the final decision will be made, including
whether it will be an individual or a team-based decision. The Vroom-Yetton-Jago
Model is a great tool for determining the most appropriate way of making the
decision.
Involve the right people Stakeholder Analysis is important in making an
effective decision, and you'll want to ensure that you've consulted stakeholders
appropriately even if you're making an individual decision. Where a group
process is appropriate, the decision-making group typically a team of five to
seven people should have a good representation of stakeholders.
Allow opinions to be heard Encourage participants to contribute to the
discussions, debates, and analysis without any fear of rejection from the group.
This is one of the best ways to avoid groupthink . The Stepladder Technique is a
useful method for gradually introducing more and more people to the group
discussion, and making sure everyone is heard. Also, recognize that the objective
is to make the best decision under the circumstances: it's not a game in which
people are competing to have their own preferred alternatives adopted. /li>
Make sure you're asking the right question Ask yourself whether this is really
the true issue. The 5 Whys technique is a classic tool that helps you identify the
real underlying problem that you face.
Use creativity tools from the start The basis of creativity is thinking from a
different perspective. Do this when you first set out the problem, and then
continue it while generating alternatives. Our article Generating New Ideas will
help you create new connections in your mind, break old thought patterns, and
consider new perspectives.

Step 2: Generate Good Alternatives

This step is still critical to making an effective decision. The more good options you
consider, the more comprehensive your final decision will be.
When you generate alternatives, you force yourself to dig deeper, and look at the problem
from different angles. If you use the mindset there must be other solutions out there,'
you're more likely to make the best decision possible. If you don't have reasonable
alternatives, then there's really not much of a decision to make!
Here's a summary of some of the key tools and techniques to help you and your team
develop good alternatives.
Generating Ideas

Brainstorming is probably the most popular method of generating ideas.

Another approach, Reverse Brainstorming , works similarly. However, it starts by

asking people to brainstorm how to achieve the opposite outcome from the one
wanted, and then reversing these actions.
The Charette Procedure is a systematic process for gathering and developing
ideas from very many stakeholders.
Use the Crawford Slip Writing Technique to generate ideas from a large number
of people. This is an extremely effective way to make sure that everyone's ideas
are heard and given equal weight, irrespective of the person's position or power
within the organization.

Considering Different Perspectives

The Reframing Matrix uses 4 Ps (product, planning, potential, and people) as the
basis for gathering different perspectives. You can also ask outsiders to join the
discussion, or ask existing participants to adopt different functional perspectives
(for example, have a marketing person speak from the viewpoint of a financial
manager).
If you have very few options, or an unsatisfactory alternative, use a Concept Fan
to take a step back from the problem, and approach it from a wider perspective.
This often helps when the people involved in the decision are too close to the
problem.
Appreciative Inquiry forces you to look at the problem based on what's going
right,' rather than what's going wrong.'

Organizing Ideas
This is especially helpful when you have a large number of ideas. Sometimes separate
ideas can be combined into one comprehensive alternative.

Use Affinity Diagrams to organize ideas into common themes and groupings.

Step 3: Explore the Alternatives

When you're satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives, then you'll
need to evaluate the feasibility, risks, and implications of each choice. Here, we discuss
some of the most popular and effective analytical tools.
Risk
In decision making, there's usually some degree of uncertainty, which inevitably leads to
risk. By evaluating the risk involved with various options, you can determine whether the
risk is manageable.

Risk Analysis helps you look at risks objectively. It uses a structured approach
for assessing threats, and for evaluating the probability of events occurring and
what they might cost to manage.

Implications
Another way to look at your options is by considering the potential consequences of each.

Six Thinking Hats helps you evaluate the consequences of a decision by looking
at the alternatives from six different perspectives.
Impact Analysis is a useful technique for brainstorming the unexpected'
consequences that may arise from a decision.

Validation
Determine if resources are adequate, if the solution matches your objectives, and if the
decision is likely to work in the long term.

Starbursting helps you think about the questions you should ask to evaluate an
alternative properly.
To assess pros and cons of each option, use Force Field Analysis , or use the
Plus-Minus-Interesting approach.
Cost-Benefit Analysis looks at the financial feasibility of an alternative.
Our Bite-Sized Training session on Project Evaluation and Financial Forecasting
helps you evaluate each alternative using the most popular financial evaluation
techniques.

Step 4: Choose the Best Alternative

After you have evaluated the alternatives, the next step is to choose between them. The
choice may be obvious. However, if it isn't, these tools will help:

Grid Analysis , also known as a decision matrix, is a key tool for this type of
evaluation. It's invaluable because it helps you bring disparate factors into your
decision-making process in a reliable and rigorous way.
Use Paired Comparison Analysis to determine the relative importance of various
factors. This helps you compare unlike factors, and decide which ones should
carry the most weight in your decision.
Decision Trees are also useful in choosing between options. These help you lay
out the different options open to you, and bring the likelihood of project success
or failure into the decision making process.

For group decisions, there are some excellent evaluation methods available.
When decision criteria are subjective and it's critical that you gain consensus, you can use
techniques like Nominal Group Technique and Multi-Voting . These methods help a
group agree on priorities, for example, so that they can assign resources and funds.
The Delphi Technique uses multiple cycles of anonymous written discussion and
argument, managed by a facilitator. Participants in the process do not meet, and

sometimes they don't even know who else is involved. The facilitator controls the
process, and manages the flow and organization of information. This is useful where you
need to bring the opinions of many different experts into the decision-making process. It's
particularly useful where some of these experts don't get on!

Step 5: Check Your Decision

With all of the effort and hard work that goes into evaluating alternatives, and deciding
the best way forward, it's easy to forget to sense check' your decisions. This is where you
look at the decision you're about to make dispassionately, to make sure that your process
has been thorough, and to ensure that common errors haven't crept into the decisionmaking process. After all, we can all now see the catastrophic consequences that overconfidence, groupthink, and other decision-making errors have wrought on the world
economy.
The first part of this is an intuitive step, which involves quietly and methodically testing
the assumptions and the decisions you've made against your own experience, and
thoroughly reviewing and exploring any doubts you might have.
A second part involves using a technique like Blindspot Analysis to review whether
common decision-making problems like over-confidence, escalating commitment, or
groupthink may have undermined the decision-making process.
A third part involves using a technique like the Ladder of Inference to check through the
logical structure of the decision with a view to ensuring that a well-founded and
consistent decision emerges at the end of the decision-making process.

Step 6: Communicate Your Decision, and Move to Action!

Once you've made your decision, it's important to explain it to those affected by it, and
involved in implementing it. Talk about why you chose the alternative you did. The more
information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people are to
support the decision.
And with respect to implementation of your decision, our articles on Project Management
and Change Management will help you get this implementation off to a good start!

Key Points
An organized and systematic decision-making process usually leads to better decisions.
Without a well-defined process, you risk making decisions that are based on insufficient
information and analysis. Many variables affect the final impact of your decision.
However, if you establish strong foundations for decision making, generate good
alternatives, evaluate these alternatives rigorously, and then check your decision-making
process, you will improve the quality of your decisions.

Take our How Good is Your Decision-Making? quiz to find out how we'll you're doing
all of these things now!
This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just
one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Click here for more,
subscribe to our free newsletter, or become a member for just $1.
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How Good Is Your Decision-Making?

You won't always have all the data you'd like.

iStockphoto/Maica
Decision-making is a key skill in the workplace, and is particularly important if you want
to be an effective leader.
Whether you're deciding which person to hire, which supplier to use, or which strategy to
pursue, the ability to make a good decision with available information is vital.
It would be easy if there were one formula you could use in any situation, but there isn't.
Each decision presents its own challenges, and we all have different ways of approaching
problems.
So, how do you avoid making bad decisions or leaving decisions to chance? You need a
systematic approach to decision-making so that, no matter what type of decision you have
to make, you can take decisions with confidence.
No one can afford to make poor decisions. That's why we've developed a short quiz to
help you assess your current decision-making skills. We'll examine how well you
structure your decision-making process, and then we'll point you to specific tools and
resources you can use to develop and improve this important competency.

How Good Are Your Decision-Making Skills?

Instructions:
For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please answer
questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don't worry
if some questions seem to score in the 'wrong direction'. When you are finished, please
click the 'Calculate My Total' button at the bottom of the test.

18 Statements to Answer
Not
at All

Rarel Some
Very
Often
y times
Often

I evaluate the risks associated with each alternative before

making a decision.
After I make a decision, it's final because I know my
2
process is strong.
I try to determine the real issue before starting a decision3
making process.
I rely on my own experience to find potential solutions to a
4
problem.
I tend to have a strong "gut instinct" about problems, and I
5
rely on it in decision-making.
I am sometimes surprised by the actual consequences of my
6
decisions.
7 I use a well-defined process to structure my decisions.
I think that involving many stakeholders to generate solutions
8
can make the process more complicated than it needs to be.
If I have doubts about my decision, I go back and recheck my
9
assumptions and my process.
I take the time needed to choose the best decision-making
10
tool for each specific decision.
I consider a variety of potential solutions before I make my
11
decision.
Before I communicate my decision, I create an
12
implementation plan.
In a group decision-making process, I tend to support my
13
friends' proposals and try to find ways to make them work.
When communicating my decision, I include my rationale
14
and justification.
Some of the options I've chosen have been much more
15
difficult to implement than I had expected.
I prefer to make decisions on my own, and then let other
16
people know what I've decided.
1

18 Statements to Answer
Not
Rarel Some
Very
Often
at All
y times
Often
I determine the factors most important to the decision, and
17
then use those factors to evaluate my choices.
I emphasize how confident I am in my decision as a way to
18
gain support for my plans.

Total = 0

Score Interpretation
Score

Comment
Your decision-making hasn't fully matured. You aren't objective enough, and you
rely too much on luck, instinct or timing to make reliable decisions. Start to
18-42 improve your decision-making skills by focusing more on the process that leads to
the decision, rather than on the decision itself. With a solid process, you can face
any decision with confidence. We'll show you how. (Read below to start.)
Your decision-making process is OK. You have a good understanding of the basics,
but now you need to improve your process and be more proactive. Concentrate on
finding lots of options and discovering as many risks and consequences as you can.
43-66
The better your analysis, the better your decision will be in the long term. Focus
specifically on the areas where you lost points, and develop a system that will work
for you across a wide variety of situations. (Read below to start.)
You have an excellent approach to decision-making! You know how to set up the
process and generate lots of potential solutions. From there, you analyze the
options carefully, and you make the best decisions possible based on what you
67-90 know. As you gain more and more experience, use that information to evaluate
your decisions, and continue to build on your decision-making success. Think
about the areas where you lost points, and decide how you can include those areas
in your process. (Read below to start.)
As you answered the questions, did you see some common themes? We based our quiz on
six essential steps in the decision-making process:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Establishing a positive decision-making environment.

Generating potential solutions.
Evaluating the solutions.
Deciding.
Checking the decision.
Communicating and implementing.

If you're aware of these six basic elements and improve the way you structure them, this
will help you develop a better overall decision-making system. Let's look at the six
elements individually.

Establishing a Positive Decision-Making Environment

(Statements 3, 7, 13, 16)
If you've ever been in a meeting where people seem to be discussing different issues, then
you've seen what happens when the decision-making environment hasn't been
established. It's so important for everyone to understand the issue before preparing to
make a decision. This includes agreeing on an objective, making sure the right issue is
being discussed, and agreeing on a process to move the decision forward.
You also must address key interpersonal considerations at the very beginning. Have you
included all the stakeholders? And do the people involved in the decision agree to respect
one another and engage in an open and honest discussion? After all, if only the strongest
opinions are heard, you risk not considering some of the best solutions available. Click
here to learn more about creating a constructive decision-making environment .

Generating Potential Solutions

(Statements 4, 8, 11)
Another important part of a good decision process is generating as many good
alternatives as sensibly possible to consider. If you simply adopt the first solution you
encounter, then you're probably missing a great many even better alternatives. Click here
to learn about some powerful tools for generating good alternatives, expanding the
number of ideas, and considering different perspectives.

Evaluating Alternatives
(Statements 1, 6, 15)
The stage of exploring alternatives is often the most time-consuming part of the decisionmaking process. This stage sometimes takes so long that a decision is never made! To
make this step efficient, be clear about the factors you want to include in your analysis.
There are three key factors to consider:
1. Risk Most decisions involve some risk. However, you need to uncover and
understand the risks to make the best choice possible.
2. Consequences You can't predict the implications of a decision with 100%
accuracy. But you can be careful and systematic in the way that you identify and
evaluate possible consequences.
3. Feasibility Is the choice realistic and implementable? This factor is often
ignored. You usually have to consider certain constraints when making a decision.

As part of this evaluation stage, ensure that the alternative you've selected is
significantly better than the status quo.
Click here to see a list of tools that you can use to improve the way you evaluate
alternatives .

Deciding
(Statements 5, 10, 17)
Making the decision itself can be exciting and stressful. To help you deal with these
emotions as objectively as possible, use a structured approached to the decision. This
means taking a look at what's most important in a good decision.
Take the time to think ahead and determine exactly what will make the decision right.
This will significantly improve your decision accuracy. Click here to learn about the
different tools that you can use to make a good decision.

Checking the Decision

(Statements 2, 9)
Remember that some things about a decision are not objective. The decision has to make
sense on an intuitive, instinctive level as well. The entire process we have discussed so
far has been based on the perspectives and experiences of all the people involved. Now
it's time to check the alternative you've chosen for validity and "making sense."
If the decision is a significant one, it's also worth auditing it to make sure that your
assumptions are correct, and that the logical structure you've used to make the decision is
sound.
Click here to learn more about tools that you can use to do this.

Communicating and Implementing

(Statements 12, 14, 18)
The last stage in the decision-making process involves communicating your choice and
preparing to implement it. You can try to force your decision on others by demanding
their acceptance. Or you can gain their acceptance by explaining how and why you
reached your decision. For most decisions particularly those that need participant buyin before implementation it's more effective to gather support by explaining your
decision.
Have a plan for implementing your decision. People usually respond positively to a clear
plan one that tells them what to expect and what they need to do. For more information

on developing these types of plans, read our articles about project management and
change management .

Key Points
Decision-making is a skill and skills can usually be improved. As you gain more
experience making decisions, and as you become more familiar with the tools and
structures needed for effective decision-making, you'll improve your confidence. Use this
opportunity to think about how you can improve your decision-making and take your
skills to the next level. Ultimately, improving your decision-making skills will benefit
you and your organization.
This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just
one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Click here for more,
subscribe to our free newsletter, or become a member for just $1.
- See more at:
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The Vroom-Yetton-Jago Decision Model

Deciding How to Decide

iStockphoto
How you go about making a decision can involve as many choices as the decision itself.
Sometimes you have to take charge and decide what to do on your own. Other times it's
better to make a decision using group consensus. How do you decide which approach to
use?
Making good decisions is one of the main leadership tasks. Part of doing this is
determining the most efficient and effective means of reaching the decision.
You don't want to make autocratic decisions when team acceptance is crucial for a
successful outcome. Nor do you want be involving your team in every decision you

make, because that is an ineffective use of time and resources. What this means is you
have to adapt your leadership style to the situation and decision you are facing.
Autocratic styles work some of the time, highly participative styles work at other times,
and various combinations of the two work best in the times in between.
The Vroom-Yetton-Jago Decision Model provides a useful framework for identifying the
best leadership style to adopt for the situation you're in.
Note:
This model was originally described by Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton in their 1973
book titled Leadership and Decision Making. Later in 1988, Vroom and Arthur Jago,
replaced the decision tree system of the original model with an expert system based on
mathematics. Hence you will see the model called Vroom-Yetton, Vroom-Jago, and
Vroom-Yetton-Jago. The model here is based on the Vroom-Jago version of the model.

Understanding the Model

When you sit down to make a decision, your style, and the degree of participation you
need to get from your team, are affected by three main factors:

Decision Quality how important is it to come up with the "right" solution? The
higher the quality of the decision needed, the more you should involve other
people in the decision.
Subordinate Commitment how important is it that your team and others buy
into the decision? When teammates need to embrace the decision you should
increase the participation levels.
Time Constraints How much time do you have to make the decision? The
more time you have, the more you have the luxury of including others, and of
using the decision as an opportunity for teambuilding.

Specific Leadership Styles

The way that these factors impact on you helps you determine the best leadership and
decision-making style to use. Vroom-Jago distinguishes three styles of leadership, and
five different processes of decision-making that you can consider using:
Autocratic you make the decision and inform others of it.
Style:
Processes:

There are two separate processes for decision making in an

autocratic style:
Autocratic 1(A1) you use the information you already have and
make the decision
Autocratic 2 (A2) you ask team members for specific
information and once you have it, you make the decision. Here

Style:

Processes:

Style:
Process:

you don't necessarily tell them what the information is needed

for.
Consultative you gather information from the team and other
and then make the decision.
Consultative 1 (C1) you inform team members of what you're
doing and may individually ask opinions, however, the group is
not brought together for discussion. You make the decision.
Consultative 2 (C2) you are responsible for making the
decision, however, you get together as a group to discuss the
situation, hear other perspectives, and solicit suggestions.
Collaborative you and your team work together to reach a
consensus.
Group (G2) The team makes a decision together. Your role is
mostly facilitative and you help the team come to a final decision
that everyone agrees on.

Tip:
This is a useful model, but it's quite complex and long-winded. Use it in new situations,
or in ones which have unusual characteristics: Using it, you'll quickly get an feel for the
right approach to use in more usual circumstances.
To determine which of these styles and processes is most appropriate, there is a series of
yes/no questions that you ask yourself about the situation, and building a decision tree
based on the responses. There are seven questions in total.
These are:
1. Is the technical quality of the decision very important? Meaning, are the
consequences of failure significant?
2. Does a successful outcome depend on your team members' commitment to the
decision? Must there be buy-in for the solution to work?
3. Do you have sufficient information to be able to make the decision on your own?
4. Is the problem well-structured so that you can easily understand what needs to be
addressed and what defines a good solution?
5. Are you reasonably sure that your team will accept your decision even if you
make it yourself?
6. Are the goals of the team consistent with the goals the organization has set to
define a successful solution?
7. Will there likely be conflict among the team as to which solution is best?
Use Figure 1 below to follow your answers through on the decision tree and identify the
best decision process for your circumstances. Not that in some scenarios, you don't need
to

In general, a consultative or collaborative style is most appropriate when:

You need information from others to solve a problem.

The problem definition isn't clear.
Team members' buy-in to the decision is important.
You have enough time to manage a group decision.

An autocratic style is most efficient when:

You have more expertise on the subject than others.

You are confident about acting alone.
The team will accept your decision.
There is little time available.

Key Points

The underlying assumption of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Decision Models is that no one

leadership style or decision making process fits all situations.
By analyzing the situation and evaluating the problem based on time, team buy-in, and
decision quality, a conclusion about which style best fits the situation can be made. The
model defines a very logical approach to which style to adopt and is useful for managers
and leaders who are trying to balance the benefits of participative management with the
need to make decisions effectively.
This site teaches you the skills you need for a happy and successful career; and this is just
one of many tools and resources that you'll find here at Mind Tools. Click here for more,
subscribe to our free newsletter, or become a member for just $1.
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The Kepner-Tregoe Matrix

Making Unbiased, Risk-Assessed Decisions

Weigh up your options carefully.

iStockphoto/AnthonyRosenberg
No matter what position you hold, from the board room to the mailroom, you make
decisions every day.
And the end result in business is directly linked to the quality of the decisions made at
each point along the way.
So not surprisingly, decision-making is a universally important competence in business.
Some decisions clearly have a greater impact on the business than others, but the
underlying skill is the same: The difference is in the scope and depth of the process you
go through to reach your decision.

One reason why decision-making can be so problematic is that the most critical decisions
tend to have to be made in the least amount of time. You feel pressured and anxious. The
time pressure means taking shortcuts, jumping to conclusions, or relying heavily on
instinct to guide your way.
In your organization, you've probably heard of someone who made it all the way to VP
by relying on his gut to make decisions. At the other extreme is the guy who simply can't
make a decision because he analyses the situation to death. The bottom line is, you have
to make decisions, and you have to make good decisions. Poor decisions are bad for
business. Worse still, one poor decision can lead to others, and so the impact can be
compounded and lead to more and more problems down the line.
Thankfully, decision-making is a skill set that can be learned and improved on.
Somewhere between instinct and over-analysis is a logical and practical approach to
decision-making that doesn't require endless investigation, but helps you weigh up the
options and impacts.
One such approach is called the Kepner-Tregoe Matrix. It provides an efficient,
systematic framework for gathering, organizing and evaluating decision making
information. The approach was developed by Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe
in the 1960's and they first wrote about it in the business classic, The Rational Manager
(1965). The approach is well-respected and used by many of the world's top organizations
including NASA and General Motors.

The Kepner-Tregoe Approach

The Kepner-Tregoe approach is based on the premise that the end goal of any decision is
to make the "best possible" choice. This is a critical distinction: The goal is not to make
the perfect choice, or the choice that has no defects. So the decision maker must accept
some risk. And an important feature of the Kepner-Tregoe Matrix is to help evaluate and
mitigate the risks of your decision.
The Kepner-Tregoe Matrix approach guides you through the process of setting objectives,
exploring and prioritizing alternatives, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the top
alternatives, and of choosing the final "best" alternative. It then prompts you to generate
ways to control the potential problems that will crop up as a consequence of your
decision.
This type of detailed problem and risk analysis helps you to make an unbiased decision.
By skipping this analysis and relying on gut instinct, your evaluation will be influenced
by your preconceived beliefs and prior experience it's simply human nature. The
structure of the Kepner-Tregoe approach limits these conscious and unconscious biases as
much as possible.
The Kepner-Tregoe Matrix comprises four basic steps:

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OODA Loops
Understanding the Decision Cycle

Observation is the first step.

iStockphoto/DivaNir4a
Has it ever struck you just how many military terms have become everyday terms in
business-speak?
As well as "fighting off threats" or "engaging in a price war", we talk about "gathering
intelligence", "making a pre-emptive strike", and even trying to "out-maneuver" the
competition.
War and business are often compared and contrasted.
And it's fun to read books like The Art of War, written in 6th Century China by Sun Tzu,
and to think about how these can be applied to business strategy!
So, when former US Air Force Colonel John Boyd developed his model for decisionmaking in air combat, its potential application to business soon became apparent.
Boyd developed his model after analyzing the success of the American F-86 fighter plane
compared with that of the Soviet MIG-15. Although the MIG was faster and could turn
better, the American plane won more battles because, according to Boyd, the pilot's field
of vision was far superior.
This improved field of vision gave the pilot a clear competitive advantage, as it meant he
could assess the situation better and faster than his opponent. As a result, he could outmaneuver the enemy pilot, who would be put off-balance, wouldn't know what to expect,
and would start making mistakes.

Success in business often comes from being one step ahead of the competition and, at the
same time, being prepared to react to what they do. With global, real-time
communication, ongoing rapid improvements in information technology, and economic
turbulence, we all need to keep updating and revising our strategies to keep pace with a
changing environment.
See the similarities with Boyd's observations? Brought together in his model, they can
hold a useful lesson for modern business.

Understanding the Tool

Called the OODA Loop, the model outlines a four-point decision loop that supports
quick, effective and proactive decision-making. The four stages are:
1. Observe collect current information from as many sources as practically
possible.
2. Orient analyze this information, and use it to update your current reality.
3. Decide determine a course of action.
4. Act follow through on your decision.
You continue to cycle through the OODA Loop by observing the results of your actions,
seeing whether you've achieved the results you intended, reviewing and revising your
initial decision, and moving to your next action.
Figure 1 below shows the OODA Loop sequence:

Observing and orienting correctly are key to a successful decision. If these steps are
flawed, they'll lead you to a flawed decision, and a flawed subsequent action. So while
speed is important, so too is improving your analytical skills and being able to see what's
really happening.
The OODA Loop model is closely related to Plan Do Check Act . Both highlight the
importance of analyzing a situation accurately, checking that your actions are having the
intended results, and making changes as needed.
Let's look more closely at what each stage involves:

Stage 1. Observe

At this initial point in the loop, you should be on the look-out for new information, and
need to be aware of unfolding circumstances. The more information you can take in here,
the more accurate your perception will be. Like an F-86 pilot with a wide field of vision,
you want to capture as much incoming data as possible. The kind of questions you need
to be asking are:

What's happening in the environment that directly affects me?

What's happening that indirectly affects me?
What's happening that may have residual affects later on?
Were my predictions accurate?
Are there any areas where prediction and reality differ significantly?

Stage 2. Orient
One of the main problems with decision-making comes at the Orient stage: we all view
events in a way that's filtered through our own experiences and perceptions. Boyd
identified five main influences:

Cultural traditions.
Genetic heritage.
The ability to analyze and synthesize.
Previous experience.
New information coming in.

Orientation is essentially how you interpret a situation. This then leads directly to your
decision.
The argument here is that by becoming more aware of your perceptions, and by speeding
up your ability to orient to reality, you can move through the decision loop quickly and
effectively. The quicker you understand what's going on, the better. And if you can make
sense of the situation and the environment around you faster than your competition, you'll
have an advantage.
And it's important to remember that you're constantly re-orienting. As new information
comes in at the Observe stage, you need to process it quickly and revise your orientation
accordingly.

Stage 3. Decide
Decisions are really your best guesses, based on the observations you've made and the
orientation you're using. As such, they should be considered to be fluid works-inprogress. As you keep on cycling through the OODA Loop, and new suggestions keep
arriving, these can trigger changes to your decisions and subsequent actions essentially,
you're learning as you continue to cycle through the steps. The results of your learning
are brought in during the Orient phase, which in turn influences the rest of the decision
making process.

Stage 4. Act
The Act stage is where you implement your decision. You then cycle back to the Observe
stage, as you judge the effects of your action. This is where actions influence the rest of
the cycle, and it's important to keep learning from what you, and your opponents, are
doing.

Using the Model

The OODA Loop isn't meant to be a static, linear "do this, then this, then this" type
model: it needs to be a smoother, more continual process. With this approach, the faster
you can move through each stage the better. In fact, if you were to sit down and map out
each step, your decisions would likely slow down instead of speed up.
The goal of the model is to increase the speed with which you orient and reorient based
on new information coming in. You want to be able to make a smooth and direct
transition between what you observe, how you interpret it, and what you do about it.
When you make these transitions rapidly, you're in a position to be proactive, and you can
take advantage of opportunities your competition isn't even aware of yet. Boyd calls this
"operating within your opponent's OODA Loop". Here, your competitor is moving too
slowly and simply reacting to environmental changes. By contrast, you're working on the
offensive, making strikes and forcing them to react to you.
Tip:
Be careful with this emphasis on speed. In some situations, you genuinely need it. In
others, a more cautious, deliberate approach is appropriate. This is likely to be affected by
things like the length of product cycle times, the rate of change in your industry, and the
consequences of a poor decision.

Key Points
Whether it's looking out for the next big opportunity, making a move before your
competitors do, or assessing the current state of affairs, you often need to be sharpsighted and decisive. The OODA Loop gives you a great way to maintain this vigilance,
and be proactive in a rapidly changing world. By using the OODA Loop, you can be
nimble in your decision-making, and make changes to your decisions and strategy
quickly and decisively.
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The Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD)

Process
Making Good Decisions Under Pressure

Learn how to make accurate decisions in high-pressure situations.

iStockphoto/Bibigon
Firefighters often have to make life-or-death decisions with a moment's notice.
One wrong choice on their part could threaten the lives of others on their team, or of
bystanders on the scene.
So how do people who work in high-pressure situations make these crucial decisions so
quickly?
The answer lies in how they assess the situation, and then compare what's in front of
them with situations that they've encountered in the past.
The Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) Process explores this. In this article, we'll
examine the RPD Process, and look at how you can use it to make better decisions in
high-pressure situations.

About the RPD Process

The RPD Process was first identified by research psychologists Gary Klein, Roberta
Calderwood, and Anne Clinton-Cirocco in the late 1980s. Klein then published the
process in his 1999 book "Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions." Klein is

best-known for pioneering the field of naturalistic decision making the study of how
people make decisions in demanding and high-pressure situations.
Klein, Calderwood, and Clinton-Cirocco identified the process after studying
professionals such as firefighters, emergency medical technicians/paramedics, and
nuclear technicians, who routinely make quick, life-or-death decisions. They found that
other decision-making models didn't adequately explain how people make good decisions
under pressure.
The process highlights the three simple steps that we go through, often subconsciously,
when we need to make a quick decision in a high-pressure situation. This process is based
on "pattern recognition," and on how we use past experiences of similar situations to
influence our decisions.
The three steps are as follows:
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Grid Analysis
Making a Decision By Weighing Up Different Factors
(Also known as Decision Matrix Analysis, Pugh Matrix
Analysis, and Multi-Attribute Utility Theory)

Use Grid Analysis to make better decisions.

iStockphoto/cogal
Imagine that your boss has put you in charge of taking on a new outsourced IT supplier.
You've already identified several different suppliers, and you now need to decide which
one to use.

You could decide to go with the low-cost option. But you don't want to make your
decision on cost alone factors such as contract length, underlying technology, and
service levels need to be taken into consideration. So how can you make sure you make
the best decision, while taking all of these different factors into account?
Grid Analysis is a useful technique to use for making a decision. It's particularly powerful
where you have a number of good alternatives to choose from, and many different factors
to take into account. This makes it a great technique to use in almost any important
decision where there isn't a clear and obvious preferred option.
Being able to use Grid Analysis means that you can take decisions confidently and
rationally, at a time when other people might be struggling to make a decision.

How to Use the Tool

Grid Analysis works by getting you to list your options as rows on a table, and the factors
you need consider as columns. You then score each option/factor combination, weight
this score by the relative importance of the factor, and add these scores up to give an
overall score for each option.
While this sounds complex, this technique is actually quite easy to use. Here's a step-bystep guide with an example. Start by downloading our free worksheet. Then work through
these steps.

Step 1
List all of your options as the row labels on the table, and list the factors that you need to
consider as the column headings. For example, if you were buying a new laptop
computer, factors to consider might be cost, dimensions, and hard disk size.

Step 2
Next, work your way down the columns of your table, scoring each option for each of the
factors in your decision. Score each option from 0 (poor) to 5 (very good). Note that you
do not have to have a different score for each option if none of them are good for a
particular factor in your decision, then all options should score 0.

Step 3
The next step is to work out the relative importance of the factors in your decision. Show
these as numbers from, say, 0 to 5, where 0 means that the factor is absolutely
unimportant in the final decision, and 5 means that it is very important. (It's perfectly
acceptable to have factors with the same importance.)
Tip:

These values may be obvious. If they are not, then use a technique such as Paired
Comparison Analysis to estimate them.

Step 4
Now multiply each of your scores from step 2 by the values for relative importance of the
factor that you calculated in step 3. This will give you weighted scores for each
option/factor combination.

Step 5
Finally, add up these weighted scores for each of your options. The option that scores the
highest wins!
Tip:
If your intuition tells you that the top scoring option isnt the best one, then reflect on the
scores and weightings that youve applied. This may be a sign that certain factors are
more important to you than you initially thought.
Also, if an option scores very poorly for a factor, decide whether this rules it out
altogether.

Example
A caterer needs to find a new supplier for his basic ingredients. He has four options.
Factors that he wants to consider are:

Cost.
Quality.
Location.
Reliability.
Payment options.

Firstly he draws up the table shown in Figure 1, and scores each option by how well it
satisfies each factor:
Figure 1: Example Grid Analysis Showing Unweighted Assessment of How Each
Supplier Satisfies Each Factor
Factors:
Weights:
Supplier 1

Cost
1

Quality
0

Location Reliability
0

Payment
Options
3

Total

Factors:
Supplier 2
Supplier 3
Supplier 4

Cost
0
2
2

Quality
3
2
3

Location Reliability
2
1
3

2
3
3

Payment
Options
1
0
0

Total

Next he decides the relative weights for each of the factors. He multiplies these by the
scores already entered, and totals them. This is shown in Figure 2:
Figure 2: Example Grid Analysis Showing Weighted Assessment of How Each
Supplier Satisfies Each Factor
Factors:
Weights:
Supplier 1
Supplier 2
Supplier 3
Supplier 4

Cost
4
4
0
8
8

Quality
5
0
15
10
15

Location Reliability
1
0
2
1
3

2
2
4
6
6

Payment
Options
3
9
3
0
0

Total
15
24
25
32

This makes it clear to the caterer that Supplier 4 is the best option, despite the lack of
flexibility of its payment options.

Key Points
Grid Analysis helps you to decide between several options, where you need to take many
different factors into account.
To use the tool, lay out your options as rows on a table. Set up the columns to show the
factors you need to consider. Score each choice for each factor using numbers from 0
(poor) to 5 (very good), and then allocate weights to show the importance of each of
these factors.
Multiply each score by the weight of the factor, to show its contribution to the overall
selection. Finally add up the total scores for each option. The highest scoring option will
be the best option.
Note:
Grid Analysis is the simplest form of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), also
known as Multiple Criteria Decision Aid or Multiple Criteria Decision Management
(MCDM). Sophisticated MCDA can involve highly complex modelling of different
potential scenarios, using advanced mathematics.

A lot of business decision making, however, is based on approximate or subjective data.

Where this is the case, Grid Analysis may be all thats needed.
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Paired Comparison Analysis

Working Out Relative Importances

Compare two options at a time.

iStockphoto/eli_asenova
When you're choosing between many different options, how do you decide on the best
way forward?
This is especially challenging if your choices are quite different from one another, if
decision criteria are subjective, or if you don't have objective data to use for your
decision.
Paired Comparison Analysis helps you to work out the relative importance of a number of
different options the classical case of "comparing apples with oranges."
In this article, we'll explore how you can use Paired Comparison Analysis to make
decisions.

About the Tool

Paired Comparison Analysis (also known as Pairwise Comparison) helps you work out
the importance of a number of options relative to one another.
This makes it easy to choose the most important problem to solve, or to pick the solution
that will be most effective. It also helps you set priorities where there are conflicting
demands on your resources.
The tool is particularly useful when you don't have objective data to use to make your
decision. It's also an ideal tool to use to compare different, subjective options, for
example, where you need to decide the relative importance of qualifications, skills,
experience, and teamworking ability when hiring people for a new role.
Decisions like these are often much harder to make than, for example, comparing three
similar IT systems, where Grid Analysis or some form of financial analysis can help you
decide.

How to Use the Tool

To use the technique, download our free worksheet, and then follow these six steps:
1. Make a list of all of the options that you want to compare. Assign each option a
letter (A, B, C, D, and so on) and note this down.
2. Mark your options as both the row and column headings on the worksheet. This is
so that you can compare options with one-another.
Note:
On the table, the cells where you will compare an option with itself are blocked out. The
cells on the table where you would be duplicating a comparison are also blocked out.
This ensures that you make each comparison only once.
1. Within each of the blank cells, compare the option in the row with the option in
the column. Decide which of the two options is most important.
2. Write down the letter of the most important option in the cell. Then, score the
difference in importance between the options, running from zero (no
difference/same importance) to, say, three (major difference/one much more
important than the other.)
3. Finally, consolidate the results by adding up the values for each of the options.
You may want to convert these values into a percentage of the total score.
4. Use your common sense, and manually adjust the results if necessary.

Example

For example, a philanthropist is choosing between several different nonprofit

organizations that are asking for funding. To maximize impact, she only wants to
contribute to a few of these, and she has the following options:

An overseas development project.

A local educational project.
A bequest for her university.
Disaster relief.

First, she draws up the Paired Comparison Analysis table in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Example Paired Comparison Analysis Table (not filled in):
A: Overseas
Development

B: Local
Educational

C: University

D: Disaster
Relief

A: Overseas
Development
B: Local
Educational
C: University
D: Disaster
Relief
Then she compares options, writes down the letter of the most important option, and
scores their difference in importance to her. Figure 2 illustrates this step of the process.
Figure 2 Example Paired Comparison Analysis Table (filled in):
A: Overseas
Development
A: Overseas
Development
B: Local
Educational
C: University

B: Local
Educational
A, 2

C: University

D: Disaster
Relief

C, 1

A, 1

C, 1

B, 1
C, 2

D: Disaster
Relief
Finally, she adds up the A, B, C, and D values and converts each into a percentage of the
total. These calculations yield the following totals:

A = 3 (37.5 percent).
B = 1 (12.5 percent).
C = 4 (50 percent).

D = 0.

Here, she decides to make a bequest to her university (C) and to allocate some funding to
overseas development (A).

Key Points
Paired Comparison Analysis is useful for weighing up the relative importance of different
options. It's particularly helpful where priorities aren't clear, where the options are
completely different, where evaluation criteria are subjective, or where they're competing
in importance.
The tool provides a framework for comparing each option against all others, and helps to
show the difference in importance between factors.
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The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Choosing by Weighing Up Many Subjective Factors

Getting out of the maze in a complex way.

iStockphoto
How do you make a choice in a complex, subjective situation with more than a few
realistic options?

You could sit and think over each option, hoping for divine inspiration but you may end
up more confused than when you started.
You could leave it to fate draw straws or pick a number.
Of course, this won't win you the Decision Maker of the Year award!
An all-too-common strategy is to simply wait out the problem, doing nothing proactively,
until a solution is somehow chosen for you by circumstances.
None of these approaches are very effective. What you need is a systematic, organized
way to evaluate your choices and figure out which one offers the best solution to your
problem.
As rational beings, we usually like to quantify variables and options to make objective
decisions. However, the problem is that not all criteria are easy to measure.
So what do you do when you're faced with a decision that needs significant personal
judgment and subjective evaluation? How do you avoid getting caught in the "thinking
over" stage? And how can you be more objective?

Combining Qualitative and Quantitative

To address this problem, Thomas Saaty created the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in
the 1970s. This system is useful because it combines two approaches

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Conjoint Analysis
Measuring Buyer Preferences

Find the best combination.

iStockphoto/DOConnell
What's the best way to introduce a new product, or change an existing one?
You could just move forward boldly with a new idea and keep your fingers crossed that it
works.
Or you could reduce risk by doing market research before you go through all the
trouble of creating something customers don't want or don't like.
Getting a product 'right' involves a lot of variables.
The most obvious feature is functionality how it works. However, other things also play
a role in the final purchase decision such as packaging, promotion, materials, and even
where a product is manufactured.
For example, people buy cars to get from point A to point B. The type of car they buy is
based on many things, including fuel consumption, styling, reliability, and color. While
any of these product attributes may be the primary selling feature, people make decisions
by considering all the attributes together.
Getting all of these features in the right combination is pretty difficult if you just rely on
guesswork. So, how can you evaluate your goods and services by considering their
attributes all together, or jointly? 'Conjoint Analysis' accomplishes exactly that.

What is Conjoint Analysis?

First and foremost, conjoint analysis is a tool that measures

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9 Ways to Make the Right Decision

Which path to choose?

A guest post by Patrick Burg from veryevolved.com
The landscape of our brain is not a rational place.
We still walk around with the same Stone Age brain our ancestors had a mess of
emotions, imperfect memories, and a short attention span. To top it off, it never has all the
facts to make the perfect decision.
From here the story gets worse. We even make decisions without being conscious of
having done so.
When neuroscientists examined brain activity during a simple decision-making
experiment, they noticed people had often decided on a course of action 10 seconds
before they were consciously aware of having made any decision at all.
How can we ever hope to make the right decision?
In reality things arent so bad, we make decisions all day, everyday. The world keeps
turning and we feel like we are in control. S
The good news is that the field of neuroscience has made us well aware of the
shortcomings of the human brain. By knowing these weaknesses, we can then use a
simple strategy to work around them.

The 9 Ways to Make Good Decisions

1. Listen to your instincts but dont let them boss you around.

We evolved instincts for a reason they work really well. To our Stone Age ancestors the
ability to make a snap decision couldve made the difference between being eaten by a
saber-toothed tiger and eating one. But how many tigers have you been faced with lately?
We rarely need to make snap decisions anymore but still, you cant stop yourself from
making them. Dont fight it, but dont simply stop there. Ask why did I think that? or
why do I feel that way?
2. List your alternatives.
The brain is the most powerful computer in existence, but it sucks at multitasking. Its
difficult to hold more than 7 different trains of thought in your mind at once, and
impossible to concentrate on two of them simultaneously. The reason we dont crash our
cars while talking on our cell phones is because we can switch between tasks really
quickly but much slower, and less accurately than doing either alone. Write down every
option you have for the decision youre making, get it out of your head and spend some
quality time on each one.
3. Rephrase the question.
You know what it takes to be a genius or a brilliant scientist? Its not good grades and its
not memorizing facts. Its simply asking the right questions. Whatever problem you have,
try writing it down in three or four different ways. Forcing yourself to think about the
problem in different ways makes it easier to come up with different solutions.
4. Anticipate history.
Our memory isnt as good as we think it is, and hence, we dont remember how bad it can
be. Its this selective memory that lets you remember who you talked to today, but not
what you had for breakfast on Tuesday last week. Using history to make a decision
requires that we remember what happened last time we were in a similar situation. Go
slow and be critical with your recall beware of only remembering your wins vs. your
misses.
5. Remember that time is on your side.
Distance gives perspective. Its the oldest advice out there separate yourself from the
emotions of the moment. Unless youre a character from Star Trek this is impossible to
do instantly, so the next best thing is to put some time between now and when you
actually make the decision.
6. Think of this as a test.
The human brain is not isolated its hard wired to function in social situations with our
peers. The upshot of this is that we devote a lot of time and energy to working in groups
and maintaining friends and our status. Imagine that youre going to be graded for the
decision youre making and you will automatically pay more attention to the process.
Write down why you made your decision and follow this by thinking: This is an exam.

Im handing this in, and I wont get another chance to change it. Others will see it and
grade my logic. Doing this makes you more likely to examine the why of what youre
doing and weed out poorly made plans.
7. Common knowledge isnt.
Spot those taken for granted moments and ask why thats the case. Everyone knows
that you shouldnt swim after eating, but why is that? Is it actually true for everyone?
What if youre just wading in the water and you can stand easily enough? Question the
assumptions youre making and judge if they really apply to you.
8. Make the damn decision.
Are you deciding your career path or what brand of cereal to eat? Not all decisions are
equal so dont waste your time. You dont need to follow steps 1 9 every breakfast time.
9. Make the decision concrete.
You can endlessly re-analyze and agonize over what youve decided. You have to stop
sometime. Make it real, write it down. Once your decision is out of your head and in the
real world, your brain can stop constantly churning through the options and get on with
the next task.
Remember, the landscape of our brain is not a rational place. You shouldnt even force
your brain to follow this list from 1 to 9. The best decision you can make here is just do
the steps that appeal to you, in any order. Ill leave you with one final thought: Whatever
you do, the only key to making the best decisions in life, is to want to.
Patrick is a neuroscientist who writes about the hidden biology behind everything we do.
From the science of happiness to how viral behavior spreads through crowds, explore the
hidden side of all of us at veryevolved.com

Four Tricks to Help You Make Any

Difficult Decision

The decision making process is never easy. No matter how many tricks you have up your
sleeve, you're bound to lose a little sleep over the big decisions. If you're really
struggling, here are a few ways to make the process a little easier on yourself as you work
through all the possibilities.
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Related

How Decision Fatigue Zaps Your Willpower (and What You Can Do About It)

Making decisions and resisting temptations are hard at the end of the dayeven when
you don't feel mentally zapped. The New York Times says Read
Big decisions cause serious stress in your life. Buying a house, getting married, getting
divorced, moving across the country, quitting your job, or just deciding what movie to
see, can all drain our willpower. Thankfully, you can run through certain exercises that
help you through the decision making process. I recently decided on a cross country
move. These tips helped me make the choice of where and when I wanted to go.

Pretend Like You're Advising a Friend

Big decisions can wreak havoc on your emotions, and that clouds your mind so that you
can't make a solid decision. The New York Times suggests that you pretend like you're
advising a friend through the decision.
The reasoning here is really simple: your short-term emotions get in the way of decisions,
and that clouds your judgment. It's hard to break free of your emotions, but it helps to
know they affect your choices.
This only works in certain circumstances. Pretending to give advice to a friend about the
cheapest moving truck doesn't make sense, but advice on where to move does. This was
one of the most helpful ideas for me as I tried to pick where the heck I wanted to go next.
I went with an imaginary friend with a similar disposition to me and tried to think of how
I'd approach a conversation with them. I pictured the type of questions I'd ask, thought
about the various risks I might mention, and even came up with a few things to research
about different locations.

It certainly takes a bit of mental gymnastics, but it's worth it to at least try. You can
always seek out advice from a friend as well, but this way you can do so on the fly
without the need for a long phone call.

Limit the Amount of Information You Take In

It's a pretty common idea that the more information you have, the better decisions you
can make. However, at some point, you cross a threshold where you have too much
information. It's one of those dumb tricks our brains pull on us that's hard to counteract.
When we have too much information, we start to fill in gaps and add weight to
information that doesn't matter. Psychology Today explains what's going on:
The human mind hates uncertainty. Uncertainty implies volatility, randomness, and
danger. When we notice information is missing, our brain raises a metaphorical red flag
and says, "Pay attention. This could be important..." When data is missing, we
overestimate its value. Our mind assumes that since we are expending resources locating
information, it must be useful.
This information comes in all forms. It might be that you've done so much research about
a topic that you've passed the point of "educated decision" and moved onto too much
information. Or it might be that you've sought out the advice of several friends, all of
whom have given you different opinions. Regardless, when you have too much
information on the table, you're making the decision process way more difficult.
In my own case, I certainly reached that point of information overload where I had too
many facts and opinions in front of me. Cutting some of that out helped. Instead of
talking with a bunch of friends I kept it to just a few whom I trust.

The other big realization I had with both bigger and smaller choices was that my decision
was always reversible. With a lot of our decisions, we put more weight on them than
they're worth. Yes, moving across the country to a new place is a big deal, but it's also
totally reversible. If it sucks, you move again. Likewise, with most smaller decisions,
setting up a two minute rule to make the choice gets it out of the way so we can move on.
Most decisions we make don't matter as much as we think they do, and recognizing that
helps keep the amount of information you take in to a minimum.
1. Consider whether or not you will be able to look proudly into the mirror the next
day. -Marcia Jones
2. Reflect on past difficult decisions and how you made them. The problems dont
have to be similar for the method to work the same. -Gentry Harvey
3. Meditate and listen to your instincts. ~Stacey Chandler
4. Meditate on how it affects balance within your life. Then have the faith and will to
carry out by action. -Isaac Guest
5. Set aside time to give careful thought to the decision. The worst thing you can do is
act in haste. -Dana David
6. Ask yourself, Who will it affect and what does my heart tell me? -Phyllis
McBride Molhusen
7. Imagine having made the decision. If you get a feeling of relief, thats the way to go,
even if its coupled with sadness. -Emma Gilding
8. Ask yourself, What is the most pleasurable choice, and where is the most fun?
-David Heisler
9. Check with your internal compass. How will you feel if you make one decision?
How will you feel if you make the other? -Kyczy Hawk
10. Make mistakes and learn from them. -Sandra Leigh
11. Talk it through with friends. Then after you have gathered as much info as possible,
decide and act! -Charlene Wood
12. Make a patient effort and have confidence in yourself as decision maker.
Whatever choice you make is valid, as you can gain experience and wisdom through any
experience, preferred or not. -Meagan Le Dagger
13. Let go of fear. Know there is no right or wrong decision. Any decision is better
than indecision -Deidre Americo

14. Ask yourself three questions before diving into something new or daunting:
Whats the worst that can happen? How likely is that to happen? Can you deal with it?
-Long Ho
15. Go with your first instinct. The minute you second guess yourself or doubt your
choice, then it goes all downhill from there. -Kelsey Walsh
16. Take a moment to think about the consequences of every course of action, and
decide which course will be best for everyone. -Daniel Roy
17. Try to see the situation from all angles. Also ask your elders for advice. They are
always great sources! Sometimes you need to walk away from the issue for a bit, and
then come back for a fresh look. -Lisa Marie Josey
18. Remember this quote: Your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses.
-Paulina Angelique
19. If you find that you have to talk yourself into something, it is usually a bad
decision. Good decisions usually feel right without much second-guessing. -Triana Avis
20. One method is to contemplate options and select the one that you feel a sense of
excitement for. -Katherine Melo Sipe
21. Stay in the tension as long as possible. If neither choice feels right, try to delay
making the decision. Sometimes a third option you hadnt thought of before becomes
open. -Jody Bower
22. Listen to your emotional instinct. If it feels good, authentically good, then go for it.
If it does not use caution and back away. -Dedric Carroll
23. Ask yourself two questions: Is this choice good for me? Is this choice good for my
family? Then listen to what your heart says. -Andrew J. Kelley
24. Make the small decisions with your head and the big ones with your heart.
-Emily Keith
25. Take a step back and try to stop thinking so much. -Liz Morton
26. Take two pieces of paper and write down your options on each. Put them in a hat,
close your eyes, and pick one. If you feel disappointed with the outcome, then you know
that is the wrong decision to make! -Dina Agnessi-Lorenzetti
27. Reflect on my past decisions. Good or bad, each teaches a lesson. To learn by your
mistakes is key, but dont forget your triumphs. They are just as important. -Mick Roman

28. Think about how you will feel when youre 70. First, it will put the difficult
decision into perspective (maybe its not as big a deal as you think it is) and secondly, it
will help you make a good decision for the long term, rather than just for instant
gratification. -Andrew Gills
29. Have a good, deep, non-judgmental look at whats inside you, and journaling also
helps. -Indigo Perry
30. Align your actions with your life purpose and personal values, and then its
much easier to know the direction that is right for you. The prerequisite to this is
actually knowing and defining yourself. Gain awareness. Be true to who you really are.
Follow the path of least resistance. -Self Improvement Saga
What helps you make difficult decisions?