Eight Practical Principles to Make Better Decisions
“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” (Napoleon)
Decision-making is a valuable life skill. Like most life skills, you can improve it by studying it and practicing. Though my own study of decision-making – and drawing on my extensive reading of general and military history – I’ve observed the following principles.
1) Practice making decisions
While decision-making is not an easy skill, it is a learned skill. You can develop your ability by practicing. So, the very next time that you have a decision to make – make the decision. Don’t hem and haw around, taking your time. This is especially true for the small decisions that we all make in life – which restaurant to eat at, what to wear to the interview, etc. In this way you will develop a decisive personality.
2) Decide for the future, not the present
The great danger of decision-making is to decide based on how you feel right now, rather than based on where you want to end up. This is why people make decisions that lead to massive amounts of debt, or why they give up on projects that they know are beneficial. Don’t make a decision based on your short-term comfort, but based on your long-range objectives.
3) Prioritize action over inaction
There are times when it’s okay to sit still and do nothing, but generally it’s better to prioritize action. This is because action leads to further data, which hones your ability to make a decision. In order to understand this better, let’s consider the OODA loop.
The OODA loop is a decision-making method used by air force fighter pilots. It consists of four steps: Observe, Orient, Determine, Act. First, the pilot observes his setting – what does he see, what do the instruments read, what is he hearing? Second, the pilot orients – he uses the data that he has observed to orient himself to what is happening. Is he in a dangerous situation? Is there an enemy plane on his tail? Third, the pilot determines a course of action – perhaps speeding up, slowing down, turning, etc. Fourth, the pilot acts – by putting his plan of action into motion. Then he begins the OODA loop again, making more observations, etc.
Understanding the OODA loop is helpful because it explains why action is generally better than inaction. If the pilot continues to observe and orient, but he does not act, he will probably continue to get the same observations and orient himself in the same way. But by determining and acting, he changes the observations that he can make, which allows him to orient more precisely. By taking a risk, making a decision, determining a course of action, you can gather new data and make a more precise decision.
4) Decision-making is never based on full knowledge
You will never have all the knowledge you want, and that is why it is called decision-making. To have all knowledge would reduce decision-making to a mathematical equation. But we are talking about an art, not a science. Recognizing this, don’t be afraid to make decisions even when you wish you had more information.
5) Excessive knowledge harms decision-making
Analysis paralysis is a real thing. This is why some of the smartest, most intelligent people in the world are strangely incompetent in their ability to make decisions. Because they think they can reason out all aspects of the decision, they spend too much time thinking and not enough time deciding. Similarly, the quest for more knowledge delays decisions.
In fact, the ‘curse of knowledge’ is that too much knowledge will make you excessively fearful to make the wrong decision. For example, imagine that you are thinking of starting a business. Most businesses fail, and many face significant competition. The more you know about these challenges, the more likely you are to hesitate. You might become so pessimistic about your business prospects that you never start the company at all. On the other hand, if you jump right in – never spending too much time analyzing your prospects for success – you are much more likely to succeed. In this case, it’s probably best to not know all the data, since it could make you more fearful.
6) Violently execute your decisions
General George Patton said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” Taking decisive action now, even if it isn’t the best decision, is better than sitting around and coming up with the perfect solution. This goes back to the OODA loop and the value of taking action. It also refers to the fact that indecisiveness burns resources. Your time, attention, and energy are limited resources. The longer that you delay a decision, the more of these resources are invested, and potentially lost.
7) Recognize the correlation of speed and reversibility
The more reversible a decision, the quicker you should be to decide. Similarly, the less reversible a decision, the slower you should act. Choosing which sandwich to order off a menu is highly reversible – you can simply throw it away if you don’t like it. The cost is low. Make these decisions quickly. Choosing to leave your career of 20+ years, or choosing who to marry, is practically irreversible, so don’t rush to a decision.
8) Decisions reveal values
What you decide is an insightful window into what you value. The decisions of others are also windows into what they value. You can learn a lot from observing decisions. It will teach you how others think, what they prioritize, and what is insignificant to them. At the end of the day, what a person chooses or decides shows you much more about them than what they say is important.
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