Thinking method · Heath & Heath, Decisive

Widen, test, distance, prepare

Four counters to the four ways decisions usually go wrong. Any decision you have been going round in circles on.

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Four counters to the four ways decisions usually go wrong.

The steps

1. Widen your options — narrow framing is the first failure. Ask what you would do if none of these were available.
2. Reality-test your assumptions — find one small way to actually try it rather than argue about it.
3. Attain distance — ask what you would tell a friend in this position, or what you will think in ten years.
4. Prepare to be wrong — set a tripwire now: what would tell you to change course, and when will you check?

When to use it

Any decision you have been going round in circles on.

What it will not do

It improves the process. It cannot supply information you do not have.

Where it comes from: Heath & Heath, Decisive. Described in our own words.