Because we work with our clients collaboratively. We recognise that we don’t make decisions like robots and that we have to explore the possibilities together. Like an artist might, we don’t know where exactly that will lead us, otherwise we would already be there. Great decisions involve scientifically-proven methods applied to a human context. That’s why they’re hard, and that’s why we’re here.

Lots of reasons – but one of the most important ones is that our brains are wired to crave certainty and decision-making is often the critical point at which action meets uncertainty. This creates a lot of ways in which we can get decision-making wrong. For instance, we can get confused by something called outcome bias – that is, judging if a decision was the right one only by its outcome. Outcomes can occur because of luck, good or bad. So, we need to know when we are ‘lucky or good’ or ‘unlucky and bad’.  All this gets even harder when we start talking about groups of people. Say goodbye to confusion and anxiety and say hello to clarity and confidence by working with us.

No! Not at all! Intuitive, ‘get-feel’ decision-making is proven to NOT work, except for specific, repeatable contexts applied over many years by people with deep expertise and experience in a specific thing (for instance, a surgeon who has done thousands of the same surgery). For most decisions, however, ‘going with your gut’ is very poor advice. That doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t ‘listen’ to your intuition or gut instinct (we are all for that), but deciding on a hunch is a recipe for trouble.

Great decision-making is all about making the best possible decision we can at the time we make the decision, using the information we have. It should make us feel calm and confident, regardless of the outcome. That’s not easy, which is why it is so rare. 

No, we can’t and we shouldn’t try! That’s true of most decisions we make. What we can do though is to understand which decisions we can make very quickly and even automatically and design tools and systems so that we can free up time and energy to focus on the small number of truly ‘big’ decisions we need to make.

We often view decisions as binary choices, weighing the pros and cons before taking action. While this approach may suffice for some decisions, it falls short when it comes to high-stakes choices. We often neglect to consider the alternative of not taking any action or continuing with our current course. This failure to recognise the significance of maintaining the status quo is known as the status quo bias – a tendency to favor familiarity. Although change is undoubtedly challenging when we incorporate the status quo into the equation and explore other potential options, a world of exciting possibilities emerges. At The Decision-Making Studio, we can assist you in uncovering these opportunities.

If you have a big, high-stakes decision to make (for instance, a life or a career decision), our FOCUS framework can provide you with clarity around that decision, possibly provide you with options you didn’t know you had, and some reassurance. We can also help you get better at making decisions overall or in a particular aspect of work or life. Find out more here or get in touch for a free short consultation.

We can help your organisation with a big, individual decision it needs to make (for instance, a large investment, merger, organisation change or similar). We can also help embed great decision-making into your strategy or operations. We have a lot of experience doing both of these things. We can also help your organisation spot blind spots or other weaknesses in the way it currently makes decisions – perhaps decisions your organisation makes are donetoo slowly, and other too quickly. Find out more here or get in touch for a free short consultation.