What do you watch for when you make decisions?

I just finished the fantastic book "Decisive" by Chip and Dan Heath. Here is my compressed cheat sheet. Do read the book - it is full of examples and useful nuggets on how we can build a better decision making process.

So, there are 4 main villains of decision making

1. Narrow framing
2. Confirmation Bias
3. Short term emotion
4. Overconfidence

So, how do you counter them?

Here is a list of questions to ask yourself when you are making a decision

1. Narrow frame -> Widen your options

• Are you asking a "whether or not" question?
• What else could you do with the same amount of resources?
• What if you current options disappeared?
• How can you try multiple options at the same time?
• Are you stuck in the prevention / promotion mindset?
• How do you find someone who has already solved a similar problem?
• Can you think of analogies, inside and outside your scope, of similar problems?

2. Confirmation Bias -> Reality-Test your assumptions

• What would have to be true for the opposite opinion to be the very best choice?
• What facts would have to be true for your assumption to be wrong? Find those facts and check them.
• Are you too caught up in an assumption? Have you tried making a deliberate mistake?
• Are you too zoomed in? If so, try zooming out
• Get a broader (average) picture. Experts are good at giving you this.
• Are you too zoomed out?
• Zoom in : Get a close-up view of a sample
• Did you try doing a trial run? (except when you need commitment)

3. Short term emotion -> Attain distance

• How would this decision affect you in 10 hour /10 months /10 year
• Are you going with the flow (familiarity)?
• Are you over-emphasized on avoiding losses?
• What would you tell your best friend to do?

4. Overconfidence -> Prepare to be wrong

• What would happen in the best case? How can you prepare?
• What would happen in the worst case? How can you prepare?
• Have you set tripwires to revisit this decision in the future?

Finally, here are some good practices to follow generally to make better decisions:

• Build a playlist of questions to ask for different types of decisions
• Define and focus core priorities
• Build a "Stop doing" list
• Ask every once in a while : Am I doing what I most need to be doing now?
• Focus on the process, and less on the decision.
• In a team, decisions must be seen as fair even if they are not favorable.
• Bargaining helps
• Procedural justice is imporant
• State back the other side
• Defend a decision by pointing out flaws