Picture credit - LucidChart
Day 41 - Decision Making Skill
20 May 2020
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sirurp@gmail.com
My learning for the day
Today I want to summarise two books on decision-making skills. Grateful to Dean Yeong for his blog - ‘The 10 Best Books for Better Decision Making’
Book 1 - Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we're in control. We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?
Dan Ariely does not believe that we behave in rational ways.
Our expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities (that’s why the title of the book - ...Irrational) (When you give people more expensive things, even if they’re the exact same thing, people actually get more pleasure out of the more expensive product)
Not only do we make astonishingly simple mistakes every day, but we make the same "types" of mistakes (that’s why the title of the book - Predictably…)
We consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate.
Some solutions -
Clearly state goals and set deadlines before we even start the decision making process
Unless you practise meta-cognition (thinking about thinking), unless you think about loss aversion when you’re evaluating your own stock portfolio, or unless you worry about this bias for more expensive things, you’re going to make the same mistakes as everybody else.
Book 2 - The Decision Book
Most of us face the same questions every day: What do I want? And how can I get it?
The Decision Book describes the fifty best decision-making models (from the well known Eisenhower matrix for time management to the less familiar Swiss Cheese model) that will help us tackle these important questions.
The 50 models are grouped in the following manner -
How to improve yourself (13 models)
How to understand yourself better (17 models)
How to understand others better (15 models)
How to improve others (5 models)
60% of the models help us look inward and the other 40% are about working with others.
What is decision making?
Decision-Making is the ability to use a decision making process/ technique to arrive at a decision.
My learning so far on this topic
Day 1 post - How to Make Decisions
Day 11 post - Decision Tree Examples
Day 21 post - Edward De Bono’s Thinking tools - A.P.C. (Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices) and CAF (Consider All Factors) and a few examples of bad decision from history
Day 31 post - 3 ways to make better decisions — by thinking like a computer, How to make hard choices (hard choices are precious opportunities)
How to improve this skill?
Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of decision making.
Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of decision making.
Learn - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of decision making
Apply -
Identify a model suitable to you
Create a template to document the flow of the process
Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did with respect to decision making
Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
Share - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
Train - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF defines Life skills as - psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories of skills
- cognitive skills for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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