Sunday, April 29, 2012

Th types of decisions and the ways to make them

From Dance with Chance - a view on the types of decisions and the ways of making them.

There are two types of decisions and four ways of making them. There are repetitive decisions and unique ones. Repetitive decisions are ones that are made often. The path you take to work in the morning. What you have for breakfast. Your choice of suits. Then there are one-off decisions. Hopefully, the person you will marry. The house you may buy. 

There are four ways of making decisions. Some of the most obvious include blinking and thinking. Blinking decisions are those that are done almost unconsciously. They are simple gut reactions. Thinking decisions are those that are made in a deliberate process. A third way of making decisions would be smirking. You use simple models for your thinking. This type would be a rule-based decision process. If traffic is heavy on the freeway, switch to surface roads. The final method is to have someone else, an expert, provide input on the decision. Call for advice. 

The trouble occurs when the method of making the decision does not match the decision type. If you think about every repetitive decision, you will not get anything done. If you use your gut to make complex decisions, you are likely to make a mistake. Matching the way of thinking to the type of decision is critical for success. 

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