8 Real-World Quick Tips to Make More and Better Decisions

Decision making is hard and inevitable. Use these tools to overcome analysis paralysis and make more and better decisions.

Tip # 1. Ooch*

Tip # 1. Ooch*
 
Never heard of it? In Chip and Dan Heath's book, Decisive, ooch is defined as breaking down your big decisions into smaller, more manageable ones. 
 
For example, I often see leaders stuck when it comes to hiring the necessary staff to support their growth. Hiring a new employee can be a scary commitment with a lot of risk associated with it. So I advise them to hire an employee on a "trial basis." Instead of committing $80,000 for the year, try the employee out for 3 months for $20,000. It lowers the risk and enables you to test, decide again, and move forward.
 
Let's say you want to become a brain surgeon. That's a pretty big decision that will involve years of your life devoted to accomplishing that goal. How can you start ooching? Hang out with a brain surgeon. Make a small decision first. Test it out, decide if you like it. Break down the decision into smaller, more manageable steps.

Tip #2. Cut out the Clutter

Too many options makes it difficult to decide. Get rid of the myriad of choices and focus on only a few options.

Check this out:

Sheen Yyenga decided to test out Tip #2 at an upscale grocery store called Draeger's in Mineral Park, California. They offered complimentary tastings of jam. Simple enough. Well, the first day the store offered tastings of six flavors of jam. The customers loved the tasting, so the next day, the store offered 24 types of jams. Customers were even happier!

But here's what happened. The difference showed up at the cash register. Customers who chose among six jams were also six times more likely to purchase a jar rather than the people who chose between 24 jams. True, the customers enjoyed tasting lots of jam, but when it came to actually making a decision, there were too many choices and so they just opted-out of deciding at all.

Do we really need 20 types of Head & Shoulders? Apparently not. When Procter & Gamble went down to 15 versions of Head & Shoulders, sales increased by 10%.

Limit your options and pump up your decision-making frequency. Remember, "he who makes the most decisions wins"!

Tip # 3. Keep the Big Picture in Mind

Sometimes when we make decisions we get so caught up in the details, that we forget about the big picture. Put this decision in context and ask yourself if it's really as big of a deal that you feel it is now. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill.

I like to use the 10/10/10 rule developed by Suzy Welch. Ask yourself if it will still be a good decision 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now, and 10 years from now. It's an excellent tool to help you zoom out and put your decision in perspective.

Tip # 4. Have a Little Faith

There come a point in all decision making that you have to draw a line in the sand. Once you've done your due diligence you have to take a step back and have some faith. You can't control everything and attempting to do so is futile. Of course, faith without due diligence is foolish. There must be a healthy balance of the two.

Tip # 5. Ask for Help

Everyone gets stuck in a rut occasionally. Don't be afraid to get an objective, fresh take on your situation. Ask either a mentor, another team member, or a friend for his or her opinion. You'll be amazed at what a fresh pair of eyes can do. But don't forget Tip #2. A million new opinions is probably not what you need.

Tip #6. Pre-hearse (instead of rehearse)

Rehearse for the future. Plan out the best and worst case scenarios. Once you've delved into all of the possible options, it will be much easier for you to not only choose right now, but to continue make good decisions along the way. You will have "played all of the cards already".

Tip #7. And  vs. Or

Issues and opportunities are always arising in every business. We map out a plan with our members and continue to meet with them every week because "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Sometimes a company will hire someone and it just doesn't work out. Once we had a member who had a completely new product line develop during their time working with Brand Launcher. They had to majorly shift gears to optimize that new opportunity in a new way.

So here's the key to handling those decisions. Ask yourself, is this opportunity an And or Or ?    

And means you're prepared to take on the new opportunity in addition to everything else going on. This will mean that you need more resources to meet the challenge.

Or means that you have to make a tough choice. For something to live something else must die. If you don't have the resources available for a new product, then it or something else has got to go.

Tip #8. Reward your Decisions

Keep decision-making momentum going by rewarding yourself for deciding. At one point we had a giant wall of whiteboard (literally!) On one side we'd write down all of the decisions a launch member made. It was so empowering! There's no joy like getting out of doubt. In fact, we at Brand Launcher value making decisions so much, that we have a special bell that we ring when someone makes a tough decision!

If you don't have a bell, give us a call (410-235-7070) when you make a decision and we'll gladly ring it for you!