Train Yourself to Make Better Decisions

Published: May 25, 2005

Application

Not satisfied with your decision making ability?

Do you spend countless hours worrying about some actions instead of making a quick decision to act?

Are you putting off actions because you cannot decide what to do?

Would you like to become a better decision maker?

Then, train yourself to be one!

In our Decision Analysis unit we detail the elaborate process for making major decisions.

There are FIVE basics steps in making any decision.

Problem definition. (Made easier if Steps 2 and 3 are started.)
Background.
Situation description.
Alternative solutions.
Recommendation.

When you challenge a highly skilled decision maker by asking for the reasons of a decision, you will get a quick list of facts from the first four steps that led to the final recommendation. You may even marvel at how this person developed such a skill and how quickly they could process the data. The answer is practice or training.

Train yourself by applying these steps to your small decisions and actions.

These are ones you spend more time resolving than do more proficient decision makers you admire.
Select those where you would like a better quality in the outcomes.

People ask you for small decisions many times each day.

Do I charge this to sales or administration?
Who do I call to fix the leak in the washroom?
Do you want fries with that?
Shall I place this in the showroom or in the back shop?
Should I assign this task to Amy or Blanche?
What are you going to wear to the meeting tomorrow?

Tiny as these may be, they do involve jumping through the FIVE steps in the few seconds it takes to respond.

Once you are satisfied with your speed and quality in dealing with your selection of small events, increase the size of your exercise samples continuing to make quick high quality decisions to your satisfaction.

You will soon train yourself to process every decision through the FIVE steps. This thought process will become your instinctive executive behavior for every decision required.

Major decisions will have you entering data under the FIVE heading in some sort of document. The first entries may be scribbles on an envelope or a napkin but, the thinking will be executive style.

Stories

Classical Directions to Carnegie Hall

Enquirer: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Informer: Practice! Practice! Practice!

Submitted by: Nephew Gerry

Outcomes

Mastering the little things will transfer your mastery to the big things.
You become respected as someone who can make quick, proper and executive decisions.
The stress of procrastination will disappear or, at least, diminish.