Decide in advance

For a wide range of decisions involving self-restraint, there’s pretty overwhelming evidence that most people are bad at making healthy in-the-moment choices.

Decide well in advance of the moment when those decisions will take effect. Present You, at the supermarket after a meal, is probably a better nutritional decision-maker than Future You, standing in front of the fridge, inexplicably starving at 3 a.m.

89 SAVES

EXPLORE MORE AROUND THESE TOPICS:

4 Ways to Make Smarter Decisions

.no-js-favicons?domain=inc { display: none !important; }

inc.com

Decision making is critical in a business, and entrepreneurs often pride themselves on decisiveness. But as Chip Heath, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and McKinsey consultant Olivier Sibony discussed recently in McKinsey Quarterly, decision making in businesses is often poor because of both personal and systemic problems. For a smarter and more effective business, consider these four points from the discussion.

Key Ideas

Bias is everywhere

Being aware of your own biases doesn't mean you will be free of them. You need a system that will help prevent your proclivities from taking control.

You're not as smart as you think

It wasn't an individual that got people to the moon. It was all of NASA.

There should be recognition of how many people really should be involved and the need for mechanisms to deliver smarter decisions.

There is safety in numbers

According to Heath, one study at a mid-sized high tech company showed that a group of leaders thought decisions were six times more effective when they considered two alternatives instead of one. Instead of asking a group for its decision, request the two top choices.

one more idea

.no-js-aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWFnZXMuZmFzdGNvbXBhbnkubmV0L2ltYWdlL3VwbG9hZC93XzEyODAsZl9hdXRvLHFfYXV0byxmbF9sb3NzeS9mYy8zMDI3MTYwLXBvc3Rlci1wLTEtd29yay1zbWFydDctd2F5cy10by1zdG9wLW1ha2luZy1iYWQtZGVjaXNpb25zLmpwZw { display: none !important; }

7 Ways To Stop Making Bad Decisions

.no-js-favicons?domain=fastcompany { display: none !important; }

fastcompany.com

Risky career moves, what-was-I-thinking relationships, and just about every '80s fashion trend-most of us have made bad decisions in our lives. And while we're supposed to learn from our mistakes, living with the outcome of a bad decision doesn't necessarily mean that we're immune to repeating it. (See: recent '80s fashion revival.)

Key Idea

Make Better Choices

Seek good information. Be skeptic and never just assume that what you’re being told is always true.
Avoid common pitfalls, like making decisions without enough time or in...

.no-js-aHR0cHM6Ly9waWxib3gudGhlbXVzZS5jb20vaW1hZ2UuanBnP3VybD1odHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmFzc2V0cy50aGVtdXNlLmNvbSUyRnVwbG9hZGVkJTJGYXR0YWNobWVudHMlMkYxNTgwMS5qcGclM0Z2JTNEODNjOTkzMzE2Njk0YzZjMzgwMTE5MzZhOTlmNTY3OGFhZTJiODAzMTUyNzg2ZWMwZGY0YzdhY2RiZWFkOWU4NyZmbXQ9anBlZyZoPTM2NyZtb2RlPWZpbGwmcHJvZz0xJnc9NzUw { display: none !important; }

3 Research-Backed Techniques for Making Better Decisions

.no-js-favicons?domain=themuse { display: none !important; }

themuse.com

Want to reduce the number of bad decisions you make? That's a rhetorical question. But unless you magically gain the ability to see into the future or are debating the choice between robbing a bank and not robbing a bank, it's pretty hard to instantaneously become a better decision-maker.