Decision making: Do it now! Here are 9 tips for better decision making.

What might help? Tips for better decision making
Do It Now!

Better decision-making

 

Making decisions can be difficult. Your success depends on your ability to develop speed as a habit in both; decision-making and executing decisions. Here are a few tips for better decision-making.

Overview

A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.

George S. Patton

Speed

 

When you think about it, all business activity comes down to two simple things: Making decisions and executing decisions. Your success depends on your ability to develop speed as a habit in both. I believe that speed, like exercise and eating healthy, can be habitual.

 

 

 

Different requirements

 

I don’t say all decisions should be made quickly. Some decisions are more complicated or critical than others. It might be helpful for you sometimes to wait for more information. Some decisions can’t be easily reversed or would be too damaging if you choose poorly. Most importantly, some decisions don’t need to be made immediately.

Decision making is one of the most important ingredients of success, yet we are not taught this crucial life skill. With small decisions, a mistake is not serious. However, with a major life, career or business decision, the wrong choice can be devastating. A bad decision can cost dearly in terms of money, time or lost opportunity.

 

 

 

What holds us back?

 

We want to make the perfect decision that means we don’t lose out on any front. Truth is the life is not usually like that, and we often have to choose between competing values.

Sometimes we give some decisions much more important than they have. Often it doesn’t matter that much.

We want to have a cast-iron guarantee that it will all work out for the best. Unfortunately, life is fundamentally uncertain, and we can never be sure it will.

 

 

 

What might help? 9 Tips for better decision-making

 

 

1. Know the mechanisms

 

Understanding that the problem is the human condition, so we can never have everything we want or know in advance how things will work out.

 

 

 

2. Good is good

 

Aiming for good enough rather than perfect.

 

 

 

3. Know your values

 

Find out what values are at stake.

 

 

 

4. Explore the scenarios

 

Work out the likely consequences of each option.

 

 

 

5. How about your gut feeling?

 

Ask yourself what gut feelings are around and whether they are telling us something important or misleading us.

 

 

 

6. Have a plan

 

Have a plan. If we conclude what we should do, but are still leaning in the opposite direction to some extent, how can we help ourselves to stick to our decision?

 

 

 

7. Priorities

 

Don’t spend too much time on unimportant decisions. Luckily, most of the decisions we make are not irrevocable nor life-threatening. We can change our minds if it turns out that we were wrong.

 

 

 

8. Stay with your decision

 

It is usually better not to revisit a decision unless circumstances change. Once you’ve gathered the information you need, weigh the pros and cons and conclude. The more you ruminate, the greater the chance that you will second guess yourself.

Once a decision is irreversible, you better not dwell too much on whether it was the right thing to do or not. We will never know everything and can’t do anything about it now, so the time spent on this kind of postmortem would probably be better spent doing something else.

 

 

 

9. Get help

 

Discuss your decision-making with others to make up your mind. Professional help will support you in the best way.

Decision-making coaching

 

Decision coaching is a specialized type of coaching. A professional coach with experience in that field combines the skills and techniques obtained from coaching individuals and organizations together with a knowledge and understanding of decision-making principles, decision tools, and best practices. As a result, a decision coach can successfully guide clients through an important or difficult life, career, and business decisions.

I help clients become clear about their values and how they impact the decision. With coaching, I help my client set the criteria for a successful decision and develop and evaluate options. Together we organize the decision process into specific steps and I help my client work through each step avoiding common decision traps. I offer specific decision-making tools and resources to help my client analyze the issues involved, assess risk, evaluate available options and make a wise decision.

As a coach, I have to understand you, your values, long-term goals, wants, and needs. I have to see you as a real person and, at the same time, see you more objectively than you see yourself. I will help you to understand what you want out of your life. I will not decide for you. I act as a skilled guide, consultant, and adviser to help you arrive at your decision, but ultimately the decision should be and needs to be made by you.

Coaching for decisions

 

Decisions have to be made over and over again - small and large. Some are easy, some are difficult. We make many of these decisions without having to think much about them or even completely unconsciously, automatically. But now and then we come to the point where we encounter a decision where we pause, don't know what to do, don't see clearly. Often these are decisions of great importance that also have the ability to question important aspects of life that were previously considered given or untouchable. Such a situation can create pressure and even lead to paralysis, so that creative and constructive ways remain unconsidered.

Who sees clearly, can decide better and act purposefully. In order for this to succeed, it is necessary to ensure that the options are identified and, if necessary, increased and priorities clarified. Decision coaching helps to oversee the forest for the trees and to find the right focus. The best decision and creativity techniques can be used most effectively in a good mental state.

In order to make your decision easier, to be supported by me, I focus on transparency. On these pages you will find information about me (Karsten Noack) and the fees.

Just ask me personally

 

Please post any questions that may interest other readers in the comments. Are you looking for professional support?

If you are interested in coaching, training, or consulting, for organizational questions and to make an appointment, you can reach me best by e-mail (mail@karstennoack.com). You can reach me by telephone at +49(0)30 864 213 68 and mobile phone at +49(0)1577 704 53 56 from Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 18:00. Most of the time I am in sessions, so please leave a message with your phone number in Germany, then. Please remember to be very specific about the reason for your call. I will call you back as soon as possible. The privacy policy can be found here.

Transparency is important. Therefore you will find answers to frequently asked questions already here, for example about me (profile), the services, the fees, and getting to know me. If this suits you, I look forward to working with you.

P.S.

 

How about your decision-making?

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This article is a short excerpt from the more comprehensive course materials my clients receive in a group or individual training or coaching.

Published: June 21, 2009
Author: Karsten Noack
Revision: August 20th, 2023
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