Last couple posts I’ve been thinking about decisiveness. Decide is the killer word. And we live in a zombie apocalypse of overchoice, options lurching toward us from everywhere. Now more than ever we’ve got to become highly trained killers. Of options, that is.
We’ve got to be more decisive.
So, how do we decide? In two steps. Staying with our killer analogy, and pulling in rule number two from the film Zombieland, our decisions happen in a double-tap of stages.
Step One – Estimate the Value of Our Options
First tap is, estimate an option’s value. We look at an option and ask, “Is there value in this?” We calculate benefits and costs using The Motivation Equation, something I teach in corporate seminars. If the value of an option’s benefits exceed the cost, factoring in chance, time, and subjectivity, we’re motivated. We want it.
Step Two – Compare Value to Value
But just because we want something doesn’t mean we’ll choose something. The second tap is comparing option value to option value to pick the highest-value option. Of all the options available to us at this moment, which is worth the most? In the moment of choice, we pick the option that has the most value. Options constantly compete, and decision declares the winner in any and every moment.
