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Decision Making Skills

"When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it!" Yogi Berra Decision making skills can be very important in a careers context: Which career should I choose? Which university should I go to? Which course should I study? O course they are also valuable in many other contexts in li e!

The key steps in decision making are:


1. Clarify the nature of the problem before deciding action.
What is the purpose o the decision? What is the expected outcome? What are the key priorities: time" money" #uality? Will a #uick" cheap and cheer ul solution do or do you need to invest time and cash to get things absolutely right?

2. Collect and summarise the data systematically.


Decisions can$t be made in a vacuum% Gather, collate, classify and organise the information you need to make a decision! You need to analyse and evaluate all the important actors in making the decision! &nalyse the various actors involved in the problem and identi y the key ones! Highlight any critical factors upon 'hich the success on the decision 'ill hinge! (ound out the vie's and opinions o others: they may see something you have missed!

3. Use creativity/initiative in the generation of alternative solutions to the problem.


Produce a list of all the courses of action you can think of 'ithout trying to narro' these do'n! &t this stage )ust produce a list o possible courses o action 'ithout trying to evaluate these! Brainstorming may help here *see belo'+ ,hink outside the box: don$t )ust look at the obvious and tried and tested options! Don$t be a raid to challenge the status #uo! (ee our pages on lateral thinking and on the creative careers search

How to brainstorm

The purpose of brainstorming is to produce as many possible options as possible without evaluating them. Get a blank sheet of paper and write down any idea or possible solution which may help. Don't censor your ideas. Write down everything, no matter how silly or insignificant to keep the flow going as once idea might lead to another. Only once all the ideas have dried up, cross out or adapt all the weaker ideas: this should still leave you with a number of possible solutions. Brainstorming can be done in a group, in which case no comments should be made about the decisions proposed or group members put down for proposing unusual ideas.

4. Produce a S !"# list of the best options.


Remove any obviously poorer choices. Don't have too many options in your final list or it will be too confusing. Differentiate between practical and impractical solutions.

$. %a&e your decision


-or each o your shortlist o options consider its advantages and disadvantages ,ry to recognise any inconsistencies in your reasoning and #uestion any assumptions you have made! !valuate each option against the key factors to consider the combined e ect o all the actors! Weight each factor in terms of importance paying particular attention to any critical actors! (ee the decision matri" belo' to help you do this! (ometimes you may get so immersed that you may not be able to see the 'ood or the trees: i this happens sleep on it and postpone the decision until the next day! ,his may give you a resh perspective!

sing a D!"#$#O% &'TR#( to help you to decide between alternatives)


Make a short list of your key options and look at the positives and negatives for each item. elow is a very simple e!ample. "ou could include many more factors.

Which career would be most appropriate for me: teacher, youth worker or sales e!ecutive#
*actors important to me in my career choice $ob security *actor +eighting high %! &'

#eacher

,outh +or-er

$ales !.ecutive - %!&),*'

( %!&)*+' + %!&)*,'

.nformal working environment ( to 1 work Good salary $ob satisfaction Total

Stay committed to your decisions, & but stay medium %!*' - %!*)/' ( %!*),/' %!*)0' flexible in your approach. ,om .obbins
0 %!,)0' , %!,),' low %!,'

In a moment of decision, the worst thing nothing.&,heodore lowyou %!,'can do - is %!,)-' %!,)&' / %!,)/' .oosevelt
low %!,' 0 %!,)0' + %!,)+' 1 %!,)1'

1 %!,)1'

peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one. /0.ita /ae /1 Bro'n 23 When you have to make a choice and don!t make it, that is in itself a choice. William 0ames Some persons are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions. Brendan -rancis "ou!ve got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you!re not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice. (teven Woodhull #ecision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight$ indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it. 1ordon 1raham Whether you decide you can or you can!t, you!re right! %ood decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.

,his suggests that or this particular person teaching and youth 'ork 'ould both be good alternatives" but a career in sales probably 'ouldn$t suit them! O course intuition *gut reaction+ can also play a ma)or part in making decisions" but a decision matrix may at least give you an idea o 'hich is the most logical choice!

'. (mplement your decision


See our page on action planning ,ry to have a $ackup %contingency& plan in case your irst option doesn$t 'ork out!

2earn to argue your solution if there is opposition from others


I it is a group decision" consider the implications or the other members o the team! 2ommunicate your ideas to the other team members" e"plain your reasoning and make sure they understand the logic $ehind it and get their commitment to carry it out! (ee our page on effective group 'ork

). *valuate ho+ +ell things +ent


3earn rom the experience especially i your solution does not prove success ul%

SWOT Analysis
& (WO, analysis is a sub)ective method used to evaluate the S,.451,6(, W4&754((4(, (88O.,95I,I4(, and #6.4&,( involved in trying to attain an o$)ective! It involves speci ying the ob)ective and identi ying the internal and external actors that are avourable and un avourable to achieving the ob)ective! It can be used as a business tool or on a personal level 'here it can help you take advantage o your talents" abilities and opportunities! It can help to clarify and summarise the key issues and opportunities acing you and thereby to set o$)ectives and develop ne' strategies! It should help you to to ma"imise strengths and minimise 'eaknesses in order to take advantage o opportunities and reduce threats!

SWOT Analysis for an unemployed graduate looking to gain employment

3elpful

Harmful

Strengths
'ttributes that help you to achieve your ob4ective.

,ea&nesses
5imitations that are harmful to achieving your ob4ective.

What s-ills do you have that others don't have# 4ur $-ills #nventory with help here. What skills have you gained in your degree# 3ave you any contacts who may be able to help you# What personal resources do you have access to# .s where you live an advantage or disadvantage# What do you do better than most other people# 3ow can you utilise each strength# What do other people see as your strengths# I have a good degree from a good university I have good team working and organising skills I have good support from my family, friends & the Careers Service

What skills could you improve# What can you avoid# I have no significant employment experience My computing skills are weak: take a course to improve this Not much money to do things. ave to live at home with my parents: can!t afford to move away "ecause of lack of money#

INTERNA L FAC TOR S

!pportunities
*avourable situations that help you achieve your ob4ective.

#hreats
!.ternal conditions which could create problems.

Where opportunities are available to you# 3ow can you e!ploit these# What opportunities do your strengths give you# What trends might help you# I have lots of free time to pursue things I haven!t had time for "efore I can do voluntary work & learn new skills to enhance my C$ It!s a good chance to reevaluate where I!m heading in life

What obstacles do you face# 3ow can you lessen these# 5ould any of your weaknesses create problems# If I stay unemployed for too long it could "e difficult to get a %o" &ough %o" market at present

EXTERNA L FAC TOR S

6aving said all the above" you also need to take into account your subconscious : your gut reaction 'ill o ten make better decisions than any amount o analysis: We live in a world that assumes that the &uality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it...We believe that we are always better off gathering as much information as possible an depending as much time as possible in deliberation. We really only trust conscious decision making. 'ut there are moments, particularly in times of stress, when haste does not make waste, when our snap (udgments and first impressions can offer a much better means of making sense of the world. )he first task of 'link is to convince you of a simple fact* decisions made very &uickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately. /alcolm 1lad'ell rom his book "'link"

#he theory behind ma&ing decisions


,here are big di erences bet'een the decisions 'e make by intuition" and those 'e make by logical analysis! #he logical part of your mind *the part you are a'are o + can analyse problems and come up 'ith rational ans'ers! It$s excellent at solving problems" but it is slo' and needs a lot o energy!

I you have to solve a demanding problem 'hile 'alking" you 'ill probably stop because your analytical mind can$t ocus on both tasks simultaneously! Your intuitive mind on the other hand is ast and automatic! It$s very po'er ul" but hidden and is responsible or most o the things that you do" think and believe but you have no idea this is happening! It is your hidden auto:pilot" and has a mind o its o'n! Your intuitive mind is normally in control" e iciently dealing 'ith the myriads o decisions 'e have to make each day! /istakes occur 'hen 'e allo' our intuitive system to make decisions that 'e should allo' our logical mind to deal 'ith! ,hese mistakes are called cognitive $iases! ,hey make us spend impulsively" be in luenced too much by 'hat others think and a ect our belie s" opinions" and decisions!

3ere are some common cognitive biases.

6resent bias causes us to pay attention to what is happening now, but not to worry about the future. 6ead and van 2eeuwen found that when making choices of food for the following week, +-7 of participants chose fruit. ut when choosing for today, +87 chose chocolate. 9his is one of the most important biases and causes overeating, smoking and drinking too much alcohol. "onfirmation bias is the tendency to look for information that confirms what we already know. .t's why we tend to buy a newspaper that agrees with our views. %egativity bias means that we remember negative events much better than positive ones. :or every argument you have in a relationship, you need to have five positive memories ;ust to maintain a balance. *amiliarity Bias. We tend to buy from a well advertised company rather than a less well known company. 9his works partly because we like what we know. We even choose familiar things even when there is evidence that it<s not the best choice %6ichter = >path'. 5oss aversion. We have a natural desire to avoid losses. We feel the pain of a loss much more than we feel the pleasure of a gain. ?eople tend to sell shares when they go up in price, but hold on to them when they go down. 9his can be catastrophic. Daniel @ahneman invented a new branch of economics called behavioural economics based on these cognitive biases.

*+#!,+* #H-./-.G S/-**S


Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. +reativity is (ust connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn,t really do it, they (ust saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. )hat,s because they were able to connect experiences they,ve had and synthesise new things. (teve 0obs *ateral thinking, is the a$ility to think creatively, or 0outside the $o"0 as it is sometimes re erred to in business" to use your inspiration and imagination to solve problems by looking at them rom unexpected perspectives! 3ateral thinking involves discarding the obvious" leaving behind traditional modes o thought" and thro'ing a'ay preconceptions! It$s very important in careers such as advertising, marketing, the media and art and design 'here you may get #uestions in the selection process along the lines o "Write do'n one hundred 'ays to use a brick;paperclip"" but it can also be o value in the )obhunting process itsel !

Lateral thinking in the jobhunting process


& number o graduates have tried the old and hackneyed methods o trying to gain the selector$s attention" such as enclosing a tea bag 'ith their application" so that the selector could take a break to have a cup o tea be ore reading it! Others have send their 2< to ne'spapers in a maga=ine ormat" but belo' are a couple o truly original approaches: & graduate had been trying to get into investment $anking" but 'ithout success and had exhausted all the normal routes! &s a last resort" he had >?? postcard:si=ed 2<s printed! 6e then 'ent round the "(#uare /ile" in the 2ity" 'here all the main inancial organisations in 3ondon are located and proceeded to place one o these 2<s under the 'indscreen o every .olls .oyce and top o the range B/W and /ercedes he came across! 5ext day" he had several $phone calls o ering him intervie's rom the senior executives 'hom the cars belonged to! 5ote that 'e are not advocating this approach: one graduate )obseeker put up @?? poster si=ed 2<s around 6ull and ended up being ined or bill posting% & student 'anted to become a trainee )ournalist on her local ne'spaper! (he decided to care ully analyse the content o the paper and compared it 'ith similar local papers! (he conducted a small survey o readers$ opinions on the paper by intervie'ing passers:by in the city centre! 9sing this in ormation" she dre' up a list o possible changes to the paper" 'rote a sample article to sho' 'hat she had in mind and sent these to the editor! ,he editor invited her in

Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can "e learnt#

4d'ard de Bono
Intelligence is something we are "orn with# &hinking is a skill that must "e learned#

4d'ard de Bono
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way#

0uan .amGn 0imHne=


If people aren!t calling you cra'y, you aren!t thinking "ig enough#

.ichard Branson to discuss her suggestions : they had a long discussion and the next vacancy that arose 'as o ered to her 'ithout competition! One 5e' York graduate 'ho 'ished to 'ork in a top advertising agency 1oogled the names o the creative directors o these agencies and then spent )ust six dollars on a set o 1oogle ads that 'ere triggered 'hen the directors searched or their o'n names! ,he adverts said "-ey, .creative directors name/, %oogling yourself is a lot of fun. -iring me is fun, too" O the ive directors he targeted" our gave him an intervie' and t'o o ered him a )ob '''!youtube!com;'atch? vAB-.'2sCCDWg #he chocolate $ar 12! & )ob hunter made his 2< as the 'rapper or a chocolate bar! It turned out to be very popular 'ith recruiters% '''!cnbc!com;id;>??DE@F>> -or more examples o lateral thinking in )obhunting see our 1reative 1areers Search page and our ,iddles test

Lateral Thinking Quiz


#he follo'ing 3uestions 'ill test your a$ility to think laterally -f you get more than 456 of these right you7re certainly strong on your lateral thinking skills %or may$e you7re )ust good at 3ui88es9&
,. A graduate applying for pilot training with a ma;or airline was asked what he would do if, after a longBhaul flight to >ydney, he met the captain wearing a dress in the hotel bar. What would you do#

*. A man built a rectangular house, each side having a southern view. 3e spotted a bear. What colour was the bear#

$ackie >tewart, three times World 5hampion :ormula 4ne racing driver had undiagnosed dysle!ia and was unable to complete his school education. 3e said: ()hen you*ve got dyslexia and you find something you*re good at, you put more into it than anyone else+ you can*t think the way of the clever folk, so you*re always thinking out of the "ox#,

&. .f you were alone in a deserted house at night, and there was an oil lamp, a candle and firewood and you only have one match, which would you light first# -. What can you put in a wooden bo! that would make it lighter# 9he more of them you put in the lighter it becomes, yet the bo! stays empty. 1. Which side of a cat contains the most hair# 0. 9he 08th and 0*nd ritish ?rime Ministers of the C@ had the same mother and father, but were not brothers. 3ow do you account for this# +. 3ow many birthdays does a typical woman have#

/. Why can't a man living in 5anterbury be buried west of the 6iver >tour#

")he fear of making a mistake, of risking an error, or of being told you are wrong is constantly with us. nd that,s a shame. 0aking mistakes is not the same thing as being creative, but if you are not willing to make mistakes, then it is impossible to be truly creative. I f your state of mind is coming from a place of fear and risk avoidance, then you will always settle for the safe solutions1the solutions already applied many times before.
-ailing is .ne, necessary in fact# /ut avoiding experimentation or risk0 especially out of fear of what others may think0is something that will gnaw at your gut more than any ephemeral failure# 1 failure is in the past# It*s done and over# In fact, it doesn*t exist# /ut worrying a"out (what might "e if23 or (what might have "een if I had2 3 are pieces of "aggage you carry around daily# &hey*re heavy, and they*ll kill your creative spirit# &ake chances and stretch yourself# 4ou*re only here on this planet once, and for a very short time at that# )hy not %ust see how gifted you are5,

Daniel 1arr : 8resentation Ien


(. .s it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister# ,8. .f you drove a coach leaving 5anterbury with &1 passengers, dropped off 0 and picked up * at :aversham, picked up ( more at >ittingbourne, dropped off & at 5hatham, and then drove on to arrive in 2ondon -8 minutes later, what colour are the driver's eyes# ,,. A woman lives on the tenth floor of a block of flats. Dvery morning she takes the lift down to the ground floor and goes to work. .n the evening, she gets into the lift, and, if there is someone else in the lift she goes back to her floor directly. 4therwise, she goes to the eighth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to her flat. 3ow do you e!plain this# ,*. A window cleaner is cleaning the windows on the *1th floor of a skyscraper, when he slips and falls. 3e is not wearing a safety harness and nothing slows his fall, yet he suffered no in;uries. D!plain. ,&. 9he band of stars across the night sky is called the E...... WayE# ,-. "ogurt is made from fermented ........ ,1. What do cows drink#

. once visited a ma;or pharmaceutical company to discuss their graduate recruitment for marketing. 9hey told me that one of the key attributes they looked for ,0. 9he Forganian 6epublic has some very strange was Helicopter 'bility: the ability to customs. 5ouples only wish to have female children as only females can inherit the family's soar above a problem and to see all aspects of it, to stand back and see wealth, so if they have a male child they keep the bigger picture, the wood rather having more children until they have a girl. .f they have a girl, they stop having children. What than the trees. 5reativity involves is the ratio of girls to boys in Forgania# being able to think outside the bo! to find solutions to unpredictable problems. 9his needs logic and analysis, but also the ability to see the bigBpicture and this involves a creative mind. ,+. 3ow many hands does the clock of the tower of ig en have# ,/. $ohn's mother has & children, one is named April, one is named May. What is the third one named# ,(. "ou are running in a race. "ou overtake the second person. What position are you in# *8. .n the same race, if you overtake the last person, then you are in what position# *,. Csing ;ust 4GD straight cut, how can you cut a rectangular cake into two eHual parts when a rectangular piece has already been removed from it# **. A man and his son were in a car crash. 9he father was killed and the son was taken to hospital with serious in;uries. 9he e!amining doctor e!claims: E ut, this is my sonIE. 3ow can this be# *&. "ou have to choose between three rooms. 9he first is full of raging fires 9he second is full of tigers that haven<t eaten in & years. 9he third is full of assassins with loaded machine guns. Which room should you choose#

@D! ,hree o the glasses belo' are illed 'ith orange )uice and the other three are empty! By moving )ust one glass" can you arrange the glasses so that the ull and empty glasses alternate?

*1. Game three consecutive days in Dnglish without using the words 9uesday, 9hursday, or >aturday *0. What's unusual about this paragraph# $ust how Huickly you can find out what is so funny about it. .t looks fairly ordinary and plain that you might think nothing is wrong with it. .n fact, nothing is wrong with itI .t is highly curious though. >tudy it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. ut if you work at it a bit, you could ;ust find out.

@B! 0oin all the C dots on the right using our straight lines or less" 'ithout li ting your pen and 'ithout tracing the same line more than once! Do copy this onto paper i you 'ish to make it easier!

2ne student, desperate to get into advertising, had been re(ected by the main 3ondon agencies, so he decided to try a different approach. -e bought some pink envelopes and a small bottle of expensive perfume. -e placed his +4 in the envelopes and wrote "5rivate" on the outside. -e liberally sprinkled the envelopes with scent and posted them to the senior agency partner in several of the biggest agencies. When it arrived, nobody dared to open the letters and the graduate was offered several interviews 6 presumably for his daring. 7ote that, we don!t recommend this approach!

/ost o the above are 'hat 'e call "Insight pu==les"! .esearch by (chooler and /elcher *9niversity o 2ali ornia+ ound that people 'ho 'rote do'n the pu88les and tried to solve them on paper 'ere on average :56 less likely to come up 'ith the right solution than those 'ho didn$t 'rite it do'n and )ust solved them in their heads! Writing do'n the pu88les invokes the use of the left side of our $rain 'hich deals 'ith ver$al and logical %algorithmic& reasoning" rather than the right side 'hich deals 'ith visual and creative *heuristic+ thinking! ,hese pu==les tend to re#uire creative rather than logical reasoning to solve them" so 'e need to use right brain thinking!

-ns+ers.
,. 4ffer to buy her a drinkI 9he captain was of course a woman. Many airlines are now hot on eHual opportunities and a candidate who had difficulty envisaging that an airline captain might be female would not go very farI *. White. 4nly at the Gorth ?ole can all four walls be facing >outh. &. 9he matchI -. 3oles 1. 9he outside 0. 5hurchill was ?rime Minister twice, from ,(-8 to -1 and from ,(1, to 11. +. 4ne /. ecause he is still alive .

(. Go B because he's dead. ,8. 9he colour of your eyes. ,,. 9he woman is of small stature and couldn't reach the upper lift buttons. ,*. 3e was cleaning the inside of the windows. ,&. Milky Way ,-. Milk ,1. Water. After the previous two Huestions, did you answer milk# ,0. About , to ,. Any birth will always have a 187 chance of being male or female.

,+. Dight: there are four faces to the clock of the tower of ig en %now officially called DliJabeth 9ower'. >ee the picture to the right. ,/. $ohn ,(. .f you overtake the second person then you become second. *8. "ou can't overtake the last person in a raceI *,. 5ut it horiJontally half way up %i.e. parallel to the top' . >ee right **. 9he doctor was his mother. Going full circle, this is very similar to the first Huestion. *&. 9he second room. 9igers that haven<t eaten in three years are deadI *-. ?our the ;uice from the second glass into the fifth. *1. "esterday, today, and tomorrow. *0. 9he letter e doesn't appear once in the paragraph. *+. 3ere is one possible solution. 4f course you have to go beyond the boundaries of the sHuare of dots to solve this. 4ut of interest this particular puJJle is where the e!pression ,to think outside the "oxE originally came from.

S ore

Over 22. "ou are a true lateral thinking Guru. Ddward De ono would be proud of you. 4r maybe you are the man himself. 78 to 27. Kery good. 70 to 79. Luite good. 0/ to 71. Average. nder 0/ B watch 9he Matri!, 9he >impsons and Dr Who a few more times.

The final test


Pick one of the follo'ing cards:

Innovation distinguishes "etween a leader and a follower

(teve 0obs * ounder o &pple+


6enius is one percent inspiration and ninety7nine percent perspiration#3

4dison
&he great composers did not set to work "ecause they were inspired "ut "ecame inspired "ecause they were working#

When you have chosen your card, focus carefully on it and keep it clearly in your mind for ;4 seconds

&ri 7iev
1n essential aspect of creativity is not "eing afraid to fail#

4d'in 3and
Imagination is more important than knowledge# -or while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create#

&lbert 4instein
Inventions don*t come in 8ureka moments: they are the conse9uence of experts a"sor"ing themselves for so long in their field that they "ecome pregnant with creative energy: deep immersion in an area of expertise#

Bounce" by /ichael (yed (nce you have done this scroll do'n to the $ottom of the page

ere are some +eb sites +hich +ill allo+ you to ta&e lateral thin&ing further.

Gow try our $econd lateral thin-ing test Riddles) lateral thin-ing again: 5ateral 5ogical &athematical Test :or some more logic problems see our "ase #nterviews page Timed verbal logical reasoning test "reative "areers $earch 6age B how to network effectively. #nstitute of 6ractitioners in 'dvertising Diagonal Thin-ing $elf;assessment Tool #6' "opywriting Test The most difficult application forms "an creativity be taught< !dward De Bono) the EinventorE of lateral thinking www.edwdebono.comMdebonoMlateral.htm

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