Decisions, Decisions

Making decisions

Written & brought to you by

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach.

We all face dilemmas. Which house, spouse, trip, job, or dinner? Every day brings a new challenge and set of decisions that need to be made. Will we make the right choice? Some are major, such as the spouse. Others are minor and will have no long-lasting affect. But Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States passed on a simple and logical way to eliminate some of the stress and struggle.

The idea is to condense many of the factors in a fairly complicated problem and turn them into one simple question. It offers one bottom line decision-making tool. If you examine any question and 45 percent of the evidence points to one side and 55 percent point to the other, that's still a rather difficult choice to make. But what about when the evidence is 75 percent for one side and 25 percent for the other? Is that a hard or an easy decision?

Benjamin Franklin was one of America’s earliest patriots, a skilled business man, a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, philosopher, a musician, and the country's first millionaire. With all that knowledge, he figured out how to make tough decisions in his spare time and so, here's his method. When Franklin had a major decision to make, he would examine the situation and make a list of all the factors favouring each of his potential options. Then based on all the information on his list, he would make his decision.

Because not all of the items are of equal value, he assigned a weighted number to each. It begins with a pro and con list. In other words a list of “for” and “against” any decision.

Take a house as an example.

What if there are two homes you are considering? House A and house B. Each has good and bad features, but some are worth more to you. So house A has a better view, which you give a higher point level. Suppose that 10 is the highest value for a view. So maybe house A scores a 9, and house B a 5 in the view area. But location is worth the most. So a perfect location is rated at 25 points. Kitchens are 8. Garages 5, and so forth. Rate each according to a scale and total each side. The one who scores the most wins.

The same is true for picking a place for dinner. The most important factor gets the highest value, like taste or location. It works well for choosing a new job. Look at the pros and cons, each listed along the page. Sometimes the pros are weak compared to the cons. Relocating may be a huge negative and gather the most points against the job. The higher score in this case might defeat the idea. It depends on what you are deciding.

It's a simple method in your arsenal of decision-making weapons and can easily be used to point you in the right direction. It allows you to see what is really important and what matters most. Ben Franklin was a smart man and I trust his judgment. After all, he helped found the United States of America and so, why not let him help you find the right answer?

QUEEN VICTORIA THE 1^ST

Queen Victoria the 1^st practiced a different method of decision making. When there were times where the decision was not clear (listing the pros and cons). In cases like this it is said she would literally “flip a coin” to choose. When asked how effective this was and if she ever regretted making a decision that way, she replied “never”. She went on to explain that regardless of how the coin landed SHE MADE SURE IT WAS THE RIGHT DECISION, by never considering the alternative again. She did not second guess the decision – it was final. No wonder these people rose to be some of the greatest leaders in the history of the world.

Now that you have some ideas on how to make good decisions, is there some decision you have been putting off making because you simply could not figure out what the right choice might be? Sit down right now and make a list of pros and cons for the decision you are facing. Then weigh which aspects are of most importance to you. Give each item a value based on that rating and then total them up. The decision should be clear. Above all DO NOT SECOND GUESS IT. Once the decision is made - close the book and move on with the decision making it the right decision.

Ken Crause – Business Transformation Coach

Email: ken@crauseco.com