A SMART way to choose a car, or anything else

My daughter needed a car to drive to college. It needed to be safe, cool, and inexpensive, among other things. Too bad there's no really cool, really inexpensive car out there, so, once again, we needed to make trade-offs. We started by listing the major goals and considerations. This turned out, as usual, to be a…

Opportunity knocks. What do you do?

People faced with an opportunity usually figure they have simply a decision of yes or no, take it or don't. The challenge here is to come up with a richer list of alternatives, built around the opportunity and variations of it. As with all decisions, there may be even better options out there if you…

You always have more than two options

Many of the decisions you face ostensibly have only two choices--often simply yes or no. That makes it easier to consider, but greatly limits your decision-making power. One technique people use to control other people is to offer them limited choices. I used to do this with my daughter when she was young. I'd give…

Ben Franklin’s decision technique

Benjamin Franklin had a life-long interest in finding ways to make himself more effective. It worked. He become a statesman, an inventor, a publisher, a writer… and got his face featured on the hundred-dollar bill. One of his techniques was a simple way to make a difficult decision, specifically whether to do something or not.…

Be careful what you wish for

He couldn’t wait to retire. He had been planning for it for years. He had places to go and projects to complete. The day after he retired, he was on a plane. In between trips he tackled projects that he hadn’t had time to do when he was working. But then one day, about a…

Are you a decision-maker or just a choice-maker?

You mean there’s a difference between making a decision and making a choice? Absolutely! First of all, a decision-maker is a decision-seeker, always searching for the questions that need to be asked. I had a colleague who thought she was a great decision-maker since people were always coming into her office with choices to be…

‘Tis the season to…

It’s the holiday season. How does that make you feel? Excited? Stressed out? Some of each? You are probably very busy. I didn't get this posted yesterday as planned because I was running around buying presents and wrapping paper. Some of these activities you enjoy and others you don’t. It’s really hard to change what…

Spend $10! Save $50!

Isn’t this great? I bought this hat for $10. It was marked $60. Wow, how much did I save? $50, you say. Well, you’re wrong. Did I sell the hat to someone else for $60? No. Did I go into the store with $60 specifically to buy that hat? No. Was I even planning to…

Do Something Even if It’s Wrong

The title is a quote from my late father, who would use it when I was a kid to get us moving. It was only as an adult, recalling this command, that I got to wondering about it. It made no sense. Why would anybody want to do something wrong? Well, my father was in…

How to compare apples and oranges

Too many conflicting goals! This is where many decision makers give up and make do. I’m looking to buy a car. I want low price, good mileage and a roomy trunk, among other things. But how do you compare dollars, miles per gallon and cubic feet? Sometimes more is better (trunk capacity) and sometimes less…