[man thinking]Rasstock/Shutterstock Life would be a lot easier if we just knew how to make good decisions. Research shows we all make a lot of bad ones, according to Chip Heath's "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work." With careers: > "More than half of teachers quit their jobs within four years. In > fact, one study in Philadelphia schools found that a teacher was > almost two times more likely to drop out than a student." In our jobs: > "A study showed that when doctors reckoned themselves 'completely > certain' about a diagnosis, they were wrong 40% of the time." And in our personal lives: > "… an estimated 61,535 tattoos were reversed in the United States > in 2009." We get a lot of sketchy tips based on unreliable sources. So what does the scientific research say about how to make good decisions? For starters, you might think you would be better off if you just had more information about the choice at hand. And you'd be wrong … YOU DON’T NEED MORE INFO, YOU NEED THE RIGHT INFO In the past 20 years we went from a world where information was difficult to come by to a world where we can't get away from the stuff. The phrase "TMI" is now more true than ever. When doctors are diagnosing heart attacks, the glut of information isn't just a nuisance — it can be deadly, according to "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking": > "What Goldman's algorithm indicates, though, is that the role of > those other factors is so small in determining what is happening to > the man right now that an accurate diagnosis can be made without > them … that extra information is more than useless. It's harmful. > It confuses the issues. What screws up doctors when they are trying > to predict heart attacks is that they take too much information into > account." Solution? _Spend less time trying to amass all the information and more time better defining the problem so you can find the right information._ As Dan Pink explains in his bestseller, "To Sell Is Human", research shows one of the hallmarks of great advances in both the arts and sciences is spending more time on clarifying problems. Via "To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others": > "'The quality of the problem that is found is a forerunner of the > quality of the solution that is attained…' Getzels concluded." And people who focus on the problem instead of the answer end up more successful in their careers. Via "To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others": > "In 1970, Csikszentmihalyi and Getzels tracked down these same > artists, now out of school and working for a living to see how they > were faring. About half the students had left the art world > altogether. The other half was working, and often succeeding, as > professional artists. The composition of that second group? Nearly > all were problem finders back in their school days." (To learn what Harvard research says will make you more successful and happier, click here.) Alright, you're clarifying the problem and focused on getting the right info. Good. So now you need to be ultra-rational and logical, unswayed by emotion in order to make a good choice, right? Wrong again … FEELINGS ARE YOUR FRIENDS Being calm definitely helps when trying to make good decisions — but ignoring emotions is silly. As Stanford professor Baba Shiv explains, choices _can't_ be made without feelings. Via "The Most Human Human: What Talking with Computers Teaches Us About What It Means to Be Alive": > "In the late '80s and through the '90s, says Shiv, neuroscientists > “started providing evidence for the diametric opposite > viewpoint” to rational-choice theory: 'that emotion is essential > for and fundamental to making good decisions.'" And not only do we need feelings to make decisions, engaging them also leads to _better_ decisions. Professor Timothy Wilson, author of "Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change", says feeling beats thinking when it comes to relationship predictions: > "It was the people in the 'gut feeling' group whose ratings > predicted whether they were still dating their partner several > months later. As for the navel gazers, their satisfaction ratings > did not predict the outcome of their relationships at all." And matters of the heart aren't the only place where feelings help. Empathy can be a big positive when trying to make good choices. Research shows doctors who feel empathy make better decisions for their patients. Wharton professor Adam Grant, author of the bestseller "Give and Take", told me: > "There is a great study by Turner and colleagues showing that when > radiologists saw a photo of the patient whose x-ray they were about > to scan, they empathized more with the person. They saw that person > as more of a human being as opposed to just an x-ray. As a result, > they wrote longer reports and they had greater diagnostic accuracy, > significantly." Certainly there are times when we need to think things through and be very rational. So how do you know whether to go with your gut or not? * For simple decisions without many factors involved (_What soda should I buy?_) be rational. * For very complex or weighty decisions (_Am I in love?_) trust your gut. Via "How We Decide": > As Dijksterhuis demonstrated, when you ask the prefrontal cortex to > make (complex) decisions, it makes consistent mistakes… It might > sound ridiculous, but it makes scientific sense: Think less about > those items that you care a lot about. Don't be afraid to let your > emotions choose. Now what about when you're tired and it's hard to think? Don't worry — research says go with your gut. And what about when you're really _really_ tired? Just go to bed. Studies show the old saw is true: “sleeping on it” works. (To learn the #1 decision-making secret of astronauts, samurai, Navy SEALs and psychopaths, click here.) Okay, you've defined the problem, got the right info and you're not ignoring your feelings. What's a key tool most people ignore that will let you know you should trust your decisions? KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS Modern science is awesome but here you may wanna take a lesson from the ancient Greeks: “Know Thyself.” There are few things that can truly guide powerful decisions more than knowledge of who you really are and what you're good at. And the research agrees. DEFINITELY TRUST YOUR GUT ON A SUBJECT — IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE AN EXPERT AT: > A new study from researchers at Rice University, George Mason > University and Boston College suggests you should trust your gut — > but only if you're an expert… Across both studies, participants > who possessed expertise within the task domain performed on average > just as well intuitively as analytically. In addition, experts > significantly outperformed novices when making their decisions > intuitively but not when making their decisions analytically. I know what some of you are thinking: _But I'm not sure what my strengths are._ No sweat. All you need is a pen, paper and time. Keep a "decision diary." Peter Drucker, author of "The Effective Executive", and one of the most influential thinkers on the subject of management, recommends monitoring what you do and noting what gets results over time: > "Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down > what you expect will happen. Nine or 12 months later, compare the > actual results with your expectations… Practiced consistently, > this simple method will show you within a fairly short period of > time, maybe two or three years, where your strengths lie — and > this is the most important thing to know." Don't trust your memory. Write it down. Make it a game. See where you score highly and not so highly. Good at work decisions but bad when it comes to your personal life? Now you'll know when you can trust your gut and when you may need some help. (To learn the 4 lifehacks from ancient philosophy that will make you happier, click here.) All the ideas so far are great but there's one critical thing that's missing: when do you stop deciding? When is it time to pull the trigger? SEE THE REST OF THE STORY AT BUSINESS INSIDER
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