How To Make Better, Faster Decisions At Work

Explore how our brains, housed in a bone cave, make decisions in a world they cannot directly experience. See how evolving purposes and group emotions shape choices and first ideas.

Explore how loss aversion and the endowment effect distort perceived losses in negotiations, and how planning fallacy and optimism bias misestimate project duration.

Explore how optimism and planning biases make antelope seem closer, prompting action, while risk fears paralyze early steps; learn to start, persist, and reassess for better, faster work decisions.

Explain how the brain's blind spot bias and related cognitive biases distort perception and decision making at work, using visual illusions and risk examples.

Discover how decisions unfold as a process at work, from framing and input to execution and tracking results. Apply practical behaviors to improve decision quality.

Unlock choices by broad framing rather than accepting the first option. Broad framing expands the problem context, increases alternatives, and improves decision outcomes at work.

Reframe decisions to the situation and the problem to solve, not the desired outcome. Consider others' perspectives with emotional intelligence and explore four or more alternatives before deciding.

Explore decision makeovers by reframing common choices, expanding options from delaying launches to adjusting scope, staffing, and process improvements for faster, better decisions at work.

Reframe decisions with a broader frame by starting with open questions, then clarify the problem, list involved people, and generate four or more alternatives, then reflect on your thinking.

Leverage inclusive, diverse input to boost team decision quality; seek multiple options from diverse thinkers and impacted stakeholders, as diversity raises decision effectiveness from 66% to 87%.

Collect written opinions before meetings using email or chat tools to gather independent viewpoints, avoid groupthink, harness diverse thoughts, level the playing field for introverts, and save meeting time.

Solicit written input before the decision meeting by writing the decision question with broad framing tips and 3–4 alternatives, note your own opinion, then share it before the meeting.

Explore how your brain builds a world model during decisions, creates blinders that hide alternatives, and why changing your mind is hard; learn two quick quality checks to decide better.

Shift from criteria to values based goals to guide decisions, using budget, self-expression, freedom, and climate impact to broaden options, like considering both a car and an e-bike.

pressure-test decisions by writing a pre-mortem to gain an outside view, like a post-mortem; state your decision, envision a future time, and note potential outcomes.

Perform a quality check on a work decision by outlining decision question, five goals, and two choices, rating them against the goals, and imagining a one-year outcome to gauge confidence.

Learn to communicate decisions after meetings by guiding teammates through the decision-making process and putting yourself in others' shoes, showing the experiences behind the choice.

Learn to communicate decisions clearly by stating the chosen option, brief rationale, involved and consulted people, top alternatives, and expected outcomes to build buy-in across teams.

Open up feedback after decisions to improve decision making and team commitment by inviting four types of feedback: signals of support, clarifications, new information, and alternatives.

Practice making a real decision announcement at work by outlining the decision, reasons, contributors, and alternatives, then share with stakeholders and solicit feedback on commitment and results.

Embrace the 'I disagree and commit to supporting this decision' mindset to openly voice concerns and still commit to the final choice, keeping the team moving and evaluating results.

Track decisions to create a single source of truth, increase transparency, and boost accountability; analyze decision records to avoid zombie decisions and uncover trends.

Practice retrieving decision context by tracing a six-month-old choice through calendars, chats, and emails, answer key questions, and reflect on what worked and what could be improved.

Learn from top performing teams to boost decision quality and speed by applying just right analysis, gathering broad perspectives, maintaining communication and feedback loops, and aligning decisions with business goals.

The Anna Karenina principle shows effective decision practices are similar, while unhappy ones differ; focus on your team’s greatest weakness to speed decisions using bias for action and perspectives.

Diagnose your team's decision practices using a simple quiz that compares your team to company benchmarks, with a two-page pdf you can print, and review results to plan next steps.

Identify your team's weakest decision practice from the decision practices quiz, then focus on that one area with targeted steps, pilots, and clear, written communication.

Make better, faster decisions through conscious effort and simple, repeatable practices. Focus on your team’s top decisions, avoid trying to fix everything at once, and keep learning to boost performance.

Celebrate completing the course and apply tips to improve decision making as a key leadership skill. Share your thoughts and aim to make faster, better decisions at work.