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jasoncwarner / ama

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How do you go about making difficult decisions? #12

Open amorriscode opened 4 years ago

amorriscode commented 4 years ago

Not just in business but life in general. Are there any particular mental models or processes that come to mind?

jasoncwarner commented 4 years ago

Nothing super concrete, though obviously think about the problem from a few dimensions and angles.

Some quick thoughts.

  1. I like to think of the "thing" and actually mentally rotate it to get a new vantage point. Think 3d model rendering. Call it what you want but it is basically turning the problem around a few times and asking some clarifying questions I need to answer myself or with others.

  2. Obvious ones: pro/cons list of possible solutions or path forwards.

  3. I always, always, always ask the question: what is the right think regardless of circumstance? If I know this, I can layer on circumstance to see how I would react more etc.

  4. I obviously talk to some others, people I trust or people who have specialized knowledge of the situation, if I can. If it is just me for whatever reason (it happens), there are ways to ask questions or get information without giving away context if you have to. Basically....try to gather more information, quickly.

  5. I try to work backwards from end state, if I know it.

  6. Game theory the whole thing out if it involves other people or business outcomes

  7. Ask "what would X do?" where X is someone I have worked with that I admire in this particular area. Only works if you have an X, which many times you won't actually.

  8. I NEVER let/make someone else make a decision that I should make. It's just not fair. I have to own the hard decisions so I have to make them.

I'm sure there is more and when they come to mind I'll add them here.