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5 Elements for Making Better Decisions

by JD

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“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” – Tony Robbins

You can make more effective decisions when you know what the key elements are.

The key elements of better decision making can help you rationalize problem, set boundaries around the solution, identify the right thing to do, identify the actions, and get feedback.

In The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management (Collins Business Essentials) , Peter Drucker outlines 5 elements of an effective decision making process.

The Essence of Making Better Decisions

When you make important decisions, there are a few key factors to keep in mind.  For example, you should rationalize and understand the problem itself.  You need to know the problem you’re solving.  You should also set boundary conditions for the solution.  Success is often a spectrum so you should set boundaries so that you don’t limit yourself to something that’s impractical or something that’s impossible.

Your decisions should be action-oriented.  If you can’t act on your decisions, then it’s a waste of time.  You should also be able to respond to feedback once you implement your decision.  What looks good on paper or sounds good, may not work when you actually test it.

The 5 Elements of an Effective Decision Making Process

According to Peter Drucker these are the 5 elements of an effective decision making process.

1. The Problem Rationalization.

The clear rationalization that the problem was generic and could only be solved through a decision that establishes a rule or a principle.  Know the problem your solving.

See Opinions Over Facts for Effective Decision Making,  4 Types of Problems, and What is Relevant Decision Making Criteria.

2. The Boundary Conditions.

The definition of the specifications that the answer to the problem has to satisfy, that is, of the “boundary conditions.”  Know your range of options that will still count as success.

See Boundary Conditions for Effective Decisions and

3. The Right Thing to Do.

Before you decide what’s feasible, first figure out what the right thing to do is.

See First Figure Out What the Right Thing to Do Is.

4. Action.

Turn decisions into action.

See Action Commitments.

5. Feedback.

Get feedback on what’s working and what’s not.

See Test Your Decisions Against Reality.

We make decision every day.  Some decisions are more important than others.

What’s important is that when it comes to making better decisions that you figure out a process that works for you, and helps you make better decisions, more consistently, and in a variety of scenarios, whether for work or in your personal life.

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First Figure Out What the Right Thing To Do Is

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What is the Relevant Decision Making Criteria

Image by darrenjsylvester.

Category: Book Nuggets, Decision-Making, Effectiveness, Personal Effectiveness, Problem-SolvingTag: Books, Decision-Making, Effectiveness, Problem-Solving

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