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How to Make Better Decisions: Get Persian

by Phil Gerbyshak on October 17th, 2008

I’m always looking for ways to make better decisions. As an IT manager, I get to make a LOT of decisions every day. Some big ones, some little ones, but lots of decisions. So when I read the latest ChangeThis manifesto listings, the Persian’s guide to decision making caught my attention.

“…businesses should also take advantage of other means of introducing constructive contention into their decision-making, because disagreement, managed correctly, turns out to be crucial in avoiding errors.”

9 great tips, going from easiest to hardest, are included in the brief PDF:

1. Informal devil’s advocacy
2. Escalation systems
3. Bets
4. Staring into the abyss
5. Finding history that fits
6. Deciding (ahead of time) how to decide
7. Smoothing out management ruts
8. Constructing alarm systems
9. A formal devil’s advocate review

If you want some help making decisions, or at least another way to think about the decision making you do, then pick up the Persian’s Guide to Decision Making.

Flickr photo credit to Esdras Calderon

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POSTED IN: Phil Gerbyshak, decision making