Decision Questions
10 simple but critical questions to ask before you make a decision
Dear <<First Name>>,
Reading Time: 2 mins 6 secs
When you need to make a decision, it's going to be the questions you ask that have the biggest impact on the outcome of your choice. So, as in much else, high-quality questions are the key to success.
But, luckily, the questions you need to ask are not complex... although the answers may be!
This is my last email before the Christmas and New Year period. So, see below for my Xmas book recommendations. These are books I have rarely recommended - yet they deserve a lot more attention than I've given them lately. Every one of them has had a big impact on me.
Here then are 10 simple but critical questions to ask before you make a decision.
What's our goal?
Stephen Covey said it best: 'Begin with the end in mind'. If you don't know what outcome you want to generate, you can't begin to evaluate your options.
What do we know?
Too often, decision-makers fail to survey the information they already have. Yet you may know a lot that pertains directly to the choice in front of you and how different options might play out. And don't forget to extend the 'we' widely. Find the people who know stuff.
What are our choices?
Your final decision can only be as good as the options you consider. There will often be another option, lurking around the corner that will unlock many of the compromises that the obvious alternatives create.
What matters?
What constraints are there? What criteria are important and which are less so? And, critically, hat values do you need to uphold? Approach this from the point of 1 year after. What regrets could you have if you make the wrong choice?
What can go wrong?
My favourite: catastrophe thinking. Always look for the possibility of multiple system failures and work back to how your decision could have been the source. Assess a number of scenarios before making your choice.
Who should we involve?
Who has a point of view that you need to hear, because of their involvement, expertise, experience... Perhaps this could go next to 'what matters?' and be worded 'who matters?'
Who should make the decision?
Not everyone who matters should (or can) be involved in making the decision. But, whoever does make or contribute to, the final decision needs to have both the organizational authority and the intellectual authority to be the decision-maker for this decision.
What process should we use?
There are many decision-making tools, techniques, and processes. Think through the nature of the decision and determine the best way to make it.
What biases do we have?
We all have a host of biases and prejudices that can compromise our decisions and so trap the unwary decision-maker. Study the theory of bias - the best book to start with is Daniel Kahneman's 'Thinking: Fast and Slow'. The way to overcome bias is to address it directly.
How will we sell our decision?
To start with, thinking through how people may oppose your decision may help with testing whether it is the right one. Have you properly considered what matters, what can go wrong, and who you should involve? Consensus is important to a decision that will impact a wide group in a deep way. So selling your choice will be a vital step.
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