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A review by felinity
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath, Dan Heath
5.0
Most of us, when faced with a major decision, tend to make lists - whether on paper or mentally - of pros and cons. Occasionally we go so far as to use the Benjamin Franklin method and weight these lists, but that's often as far as rational decision making goes. We fall back on decisions where "it feels right" or "I have a gut instinct about this one".
That's not a great method, but it's usually the best we've got. In [b:Decisive|15798078|Decisive How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work|Chip Heath|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351213453s/15798078.jpg|21521013], Chip & Dan Heath explain, demonstrate and teach new practices which are easy to implement and which use a simple 4-step process.
First you're introduced to "The Four Villains of Decision Making", and then shown four strategies to combat them. There's no one-size-fits-all solution for how these are implemented; for me, this is the strength of the book. Each chapter offers numerous ways to put these strategies into effect. Actively seeking out disagreement, looking for options that can be run in parallel (AND not OR), setting a tripwire, expanding a "Should I...?" to "What's the best way to...?" and creating mental distance by looking 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years ahead with each path (what they call 10/10/10) are all part of it. In fact, all but one approach (using a mission statement to create focus) were completely new to me and very different from any other decision-making process I've seen before, and so obviously useful once they were pointed out.
Unlike many books of this type, this isn't targeted to one specific audience, not is it a book for people in the business/finance sector. It doesn't require concentrated attention to understand, or for you to read long chapters in one sitting to follow a complicated chain of logic. It's broken into quick-to-read sections with bullet-point summaries and references to all the studies backing up their claims. The variety of scenarios, set in the music industry, in business, and in personal lives, and the variety of angles all serve to ensure that something is directly relevant to the reader, and all illustrate the Heaths' theory perfectly. There are even some "clinics" (practice scenarios) for you to consider at the end, along with some common question/answers.
Even if all you read is the introduction and Chapter One, you'll find yourself able to think and decide in a different way. If you want an overview, skim through the book and read the "in one page" summaries which conclude each chapter. It won't take long, and you'll still get some benefit (and hopefully you'll go back and read the rest). This is one I'll be rereading. No doubt it will take practise for this new decision style to become instinctive rather than a conscious choice, but that's the way of all things.
That's not a great method, but it's usually the best we've got. In [b:Decisive|15798078|Decisive How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work|Chip Heath|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1351213453s/15798078.jpg|21521013], Chip & Dan Heath explain, demonstrate and teach new practices which are easy to implement and which use a simple 4-step process.
First you're introduced to "The Four Villains of Decision Making", and then shown four strategies to combat them. There's no one-size-fits-all solution for how these are implemented; for me, this is the strength of the book. Each chapter offers numerous ways to put these strategies into effect. Actively seeking out disagreement, looking for options that can be run in parallel (AND not OR), setting a tripwire, expanding a "Should I...?" to "What's the best way to...?" and creating mental distance by looking 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years ahead with each path (what they call 10/10/10) are all part of it. In fact, all but one approach (using a mission statement to create focus) were completely new to me and very different from any other decision-making process I've seen before, and so obviously useful once they were pointed out.
Unlike many books of this type, this isn't targeted to one specific audience, not is it a book for people in the business/finance sector. It doesn't require concentrated attention to understand, or for you to read long chapters in one sitting to follow a complicated chain of logic. It's broken into quick-to-read sections with bullet-point summaries and references to all the studies backing up their claims. The variety of scenarios, set in the music industry, in business, and in personal lives, and the variety of angles all serve to ensure that something is directly relevant to the reader, and all illustrate the Heaths' theory perfectly. There are even some "clinics" (practice scenarios) for you to consider at the end, along with some common question/answers.
Even if all you read is the introduction and Chapter One, you'll find yourself able to think and decide in a different way. If you want an overview, skim through the book and read the "in one page" summaries which conclude each chapter. It won't take long, and you'll still get some benefit (and hopefully you'll go back and read the rest). This is one I'll be rereading. No doubt it will take practise for this new decision style to become instinctive rather than a conscious choice, but that's the way of all things.