📖Notes on: “Decisive” by Chip & Dan Heath

“A remarkable aspect of your mental life is that your are rarely stumped” —Daniel Kahneman

p.9 Spotlight effect. We only see information that is immediately visible. We forget there is other information

p.17 Narrow framing (either or not question)

p.18

When people have the opportunity to collect information from the world, they are more likely to select information that supports their preexisting attitudes, beliefs and actions.

p.19 It might be hard to recognize confirmation bias as it looks scientific — you do go out to collect data → You are susceptible to confirmation bias even if you seek out more information

p.23 obstacle: short-term emotions get in the way

p.24 obstacle: overconfidence. People think they know more than they do about how the future will unfold.

p.54

Focusing is great for analyzing alternatives but terrible for spotting them.

p.55 we commonly lack attention to opportunity cost

p.56 Vanishing Options Test: → Vanishing Options Test

You cannot choose any of the current options you’re considering. What else could you do?

^ this is a good coaching question

p.61 “Whether-or-not” is counted as one alternative (it’s either accepted or rejected)

p.67 Single-tracking, you associate more with the single solution you have. So you take the feedback more personally.

p.67 Execs who weigh more options actually make decisions faster → Execs who weigh more options actually make decisions faster

p.72 “Sham options” may be used to create the illusion of choice. If there is easy consensus, that might be a red flag.

p.74 Two mindsets: prevention focus, promotion focus. We usually lock into one of them but it’s best to consider both

p.79 Multitrack. It’s worth cultivating multiple options at the same time

p.80

Push for “this AND that” rather than “this OR that.”

p.94 Use playlists to help you generate ideas, decide, or get unstuck.

p.112 Devil’s advocate. A person assuming the opposite position is helpful to overcome confirmation bias

p.115 “What would have to be true for this option to be the best?” — this question helps to reorient the discussion from defending each one’s favorite idea to comparing the options constructively