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3 Simple Ways To Make Better Business Decisions

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decision making

Business owners and managers always rely on making the right decisions, in terms of following trends and bringing innovative ways to make their business more successful.

But dealing with the process of making decisions and making the right choices, with risks of failure and success factors on the way, is seldom an easy task. Many professionals have problems connected to insecurity and not enough intel to deem confidence and take properly balanced risks when coming up with a decision.

While no one can establish a clear view on the definite outcomes of a decision, one must think ahead in terms of considering the possible ones, and make a quality risk assessments before implementing any decisions.

Decision making guidance serves a linear process compiled of few stages, among which the basic steps are:

  1. Identify the problem
  2. Generate alternative solutions
  3. Evaluate and choose among alternative solutions
  4. Implement and monitor the chosen solution

But if you consider the decision making process as a linear one, you cannot just stop at the steps above and wonder how to go through with each, without considering a methodology for the decision making.

Here are three simple methods that can provide you with guidance when making a decision:

1. Make a pros and cons sheet

The first way to go through the decision making and elaborate alternatives and outcomes is through the use of a balance sheet. This technique is very useful in problem solving, and I guess decision making and problem solving are interconnected, as they both need to reach an outcome.

What you do is take a simple pen and paper, and draw a line on the middle, making one side free for pros and other for cons. You elaborate why a certain alternative is better or has smaller risks, in comparison to the others, for which you have also made assumptions about. This balance sheet method is a very practical one, and relies on documenting facts and assumptions, and though it may seem too subjective, is a valuable method to support the decision making process.

“As a bull market turns into a bear market, the new pros turn into optimists, hoping and praying the bear market will become a bull and save them. But as the market remains bearish, the optimists become pessimists, quit the profession, and return to their day jobs. This is when the real professional investors re-enter the market.” – Robert Kiyosaki

2. Use the technique six thinking hats

Another decision making methodology is the use of a very stimulating technique, that is called Six Thinking Hats. You can see the more visual interpretation of its description in the mind map below.

The six thinking hats technique, encompasses a way to introduce six ways to look at things: facts, feelings, process, creativity, benefits and cautions, and they are all represented by six different colors for a more stimulating effect.

While “wearing” each hat, the person looks at the decision from different perspectives, giving a variety in the choosing, but a way to stimulate the risk assessment and the scores of possible outcomes.

The white hat is the objective view on the situation and relies only on facts, data and figures, without considering subjective thinking or emotions. The blue hat signifies control of the process and is used to manage the thinking process by observing guidelines of the process.

The red hat marks feelings and relies on intuition, and places emotions without explanation. The green hat is focused on creativity and freshness of ideas and induces lateral thinking. The yellow hat symbolizes the optimistic side of looking onto outcomes and explores the positive values and benefits of the situation. The black hat is the critical thinking hat where the risks and negative sides are being considered.

3. Mind mapping

I am a fan of new concepts and frequently incorporate another famous technique into the decision making process, called mind mapping.

Mind mapping is a visual technique to organize ideas and information. The product of mind mapping is called a mind map and is nothing else that a specific diagram, representing a central topic branching out to subtopics that elaborate the central subject, in this case a problem or a decision to be made. This tool is used to generate, visualize and structure ideas and aids decision making and problem solving, by being able to see the big picture.

“Many think of memory as rote learning, a linear stuffing of the brain with facts, where understanding is irrelevant. When you teach it properly, with imagination and association, understanding becomes a part of it.” – Tony Buzan

Since we cannot surmise all advices or tips to take into account when delivering any decision, or when you go through the decision making process, but you can take into account some of the following:

  • Make sure you are sufficiently informed and put aside any conflicts of interest;
  • Value information and document it in any form as evidence;
  • Take account of all relevant factors and ignore any irrelevant ones;
  • Always think through actions that are within your powers and try to act upon them;
  • And last but not least – make decisions that are within your range.

How do you make important decisions? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

Joel Roberts is an entrepreneur and a project manager with more than 12 years of experience, working with Seavus Project Viewer – a standalone viewer for team members who need to view and analyze project plans. Passionate about ideas and innovation management, she uses mind mapping software on a daily basis to organize, plan and improve her work. Her articles have been featured in more than a dozen project management and business websites. You can follow her on LinkedIn.

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Success Advice

How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success

Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

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Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success (1)
Image Credit: Midjourney

Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

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Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be. 

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time. 

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.

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Success Advice

Here’s a Young Man’s Antidote for the Uncertainty of the Modern World

Why do a lot of young guys lack confidence in today’s world? 

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How to boost your confidence
Image Credit: Midjourney

We all have been told that confidence is a key factor in achieving success and happiness in life. But what is it exactly? (more…)

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Success Advice

Toxic Leadership: 5 Ways to Identify a Bad Leader

if you have a leader who displays any of the toxic traits, it’s time to move on to greener pastures.

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Toxic leadership
Image Credit: Midjourney

Let’s be honest, we’ve all crossed paths with a toxic leader in our careers at some point. Unfortunately, while some toxic leaders don’t even bother to hide their behaviour, some know very well how to conceal their true selves behind a strong-built facade. The latter is the most dangerous of the two. (more…)

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