Title The Decision Book

Author Mikael Krogerus and Roman Tschappeler

Year Published 2012

Kind of Book Decision making/How-To

How strongly I recommend it 5/10 

My Impressions This is a compilation of other people's models for decision making and thinking. Though there are some great quotes in here I prefer reading thinkers firsthand.

Date Read Feb 2020

Practical Takeaways

  • Reject projects if there is nothing you can learn from them

  • Reject projects if they do not correspond to your overriding vision

  • If a project corresponds to your vision, but you are learning nothing new from it, look for somebody else to do it for you

  • Aim higher (The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.) -Michelangelo

  • Distinguish between final goals and performance goals (ie goals that help you reach your final goal)

  • Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler .-Albert Einstein

  • Make sure your goal is SMART-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is specific-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Measurable-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Attainable-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Realistic-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Time Phased-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is PURE-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Positively Stated-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Understood-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Relevant-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Ethical-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is CLEAR-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Challenging-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Legal-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Environmentally Sound-The John Whitmore Model

  • Make sure your goal is Recorded-The John Whitmore Model

  • Pay attention to your thoughts, because they become words

Pay attention to your words, because they become actions

Pay attention to your actions, because they become habits

Pay attention to your habits, because they become your character

Pay attention to your character, because it is your fate-The Talmud

  • Be bold with your decision making at the begging of a project-The Consequences Model

  • Have the courage to make decisions based on minimal information-The Consequences Model

  • Choose to regret what you've done, not what you haven't done A: I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things that I haven't-Lucile Ball

  • (Spaced Repetition) After learning something new review it/quiz yourself on it in the intervals of one day, ten days, thirty days, sixty days-The Supermemo Model

  • Promise 80% and deliver 120%-The Personal Potential Trap

  • Expect less of yourself than what you think others expect of you-The Personal Potential Trap

  • Spend time with your family (A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man)-Don Corleone

  • Pursue what you need before you pursue what you want A: what we need tends to be the exact opposite of what we want-Maslow's Pyramids)

  • 'Yes and' others ideas, don't 'No, but' them' or 'No, because' them-The AI Model

  • Don't assume what always has happened also will continue to happen-Bertrand Russell

  • Question the things we take for granted-Bertrand Russell

  • Don't be afraid of stiring up negative feelings among the group you're leading (An open conflict is better than one that simmers and builds unresolved through several stage)-The Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model

  • Be prepared to make the first mistake as the group's leader-The Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model

  • (as a leader) Pick good men to do what you want done-Theodore Roosevelt

  • (as a leader) Keep from meddling with the men you chose to do a task-Theodore Roosevelt

  • If you have a good idea, but fear that it may meet with strong resistance, try to lead the discussion in such a way that the other members of the group think that they came up with the idea themselves-The Role-Playing Model

  • Plan your project so that it is 'finished' three times before it is actually finished ie. Have three drafts that get critiqued and refined-The Result Optimization Model

  • Draw while you talk

  • Draw while you present (The audience receives the information twice. The audience is able to see the process)

  • Draw simple unsophisticated pictures when presenting/explaining a model (eg. Stick men)

  • Don't go back and correct mistakes when you're drawing while teaching/explaining

 

Big Ideas

  • You are always subject to four different perspectives

1.How you see yourself

2.How you would like to see yourself

3.How others see you

4.How others would like to see you

 

  • There are 4 ways people approach other people's idea

1.The fault finder: 'yes but..'

2.The Dictator 'No'

3.The Teacher: 'The idea isn't good because'

4.The AI Thinker 'Yes and…"

 

  • The problem for most people is not that they aim too high, but that they aim too low and reach it-Michelangelo

  • Our thoughts become words-The Talmud

  • Our words become actions-The Talmud

  • Our actions become habits-The Talmud

  • Our habits become our character-The Talmud

  • We regret the things we do more than the things we don't do-Lucile Ball

  • Anyone can criticize-Benjamin Franklin

  • 3 steps that happen when someone does something new -Mahatma Gandhi

1.people laugh at you/the idea

2.people fight you/the idea

3.You win

  • The poor wish to be rich-Ann Landers

  • The rich wish to be happy-Ann Landers

  • The single wish to be married-Ann Landers

  • The married wish to be dead-Ann Landers

  • A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man-Don Corleone