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FASTER
DECISIONS
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1 Warm up

1. Which of these decisions would be the most difficult for you to make? Why?
• Ordering a meal from a menu
• Choosing a new printer for your office
• Whether to accept a job offer

2. Which of these decisions has the highest stakes? (The stakes are the level of risk associated with
making a successful decision, so a high-stakes decision could result in significant gains or losses.)
3. Why do people sometimes find it difficult to make decisions? Think of three reasons.

2 Tune in

Video You are going to watch a TED talk called ”How to make faster decisions” by Patrick McGinnis, a
venture capitalist, writer and speaker. It’s helpful if you first watch the beginning of a presentation,
to get used to the speaker’s accent and speed of delivery. Watch the introduction to the talk (0:00-
1:31) and answer the questions:

• What is FOBO?
• What is the effect of technology on decision-making?
• What are the negative effects of FOBO?
• How many types of decisions does the speaker identify?

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3 Parts 1 & 2

Watch the first two parts of the talk (1:31 - 2:55) and complete the table with information from the
speaker.

examples time frame - how how to make this

long you will type of decision
experience the
consequences

no-stakes decisions

low-stakes decisions

4 Part 3 & 4

The third and fourth part of the talk (2:55-4:54) is about how to make high-stakes decisions and some
final advice.

1. Before you watch, read the advice from the talk about making high-stakes decisions and predict
the order of these stages. Then watch the talk to check your ideas and answer questions 2-4.
a. choose the better of the two options, based on what’s important to you
b. research information about all of the possibilities
c. compare each possibility, one at a time, with the ”best” option
d. permanently remove options that have lost to the ”best” option from the list
e. repeat the process until one final choice is left
f. select one likely ”best” option based on your feelings
g. think about what’s important to you

2. What does the speaker say you should do if you still can’t make a decision after using this process?
3. What is the final step in making a decision?
4. What is the final piece of advice the speaker gives?

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5 Vocabulary

Match the words from the transcript in bold with these meanings.

1. ask for support for your ideas from other people (verb) =
2. opposite to or very different from what you would naturally think (adj.) =
3. throw something away because you don’t want/need it (verb) =
4. the categories of performance that you use to judge or make a decision about something (noun) =
5. a feeling of confidence or certainty (noun) =
6. the future effects that a decision will have (noun) =
7. get work done by asking someone else to do it (verb) =
8. inability to move or make a decision (noun) =
9. very obvious or noticeable (adj) =
10. gradually reduce the number of options (phrasal verb) =

6 Discuss

Discuss any or all of the questions in pairs or small groups.

1. Give some personal examples of no-stakes, low-stakes and high-stakes decisions that you have
made at work or in your personal life.
2. Have you ever outsourced a decision to the universe, for example by flipping a coin, or ”asking
your watch”? What was the decision and what were the results?
3. The speaker suggests outsourcing low-stakes decisions to other people. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of this strategy?
4. How effective is the process that the speaker describes for making a high-stakes decision? Can
you suggest any improvements or offer any other advice?
5. Do you agree with the speaker, when he says, ”...remember that FOBO, by nature, comes when
you struggle to choose just one from a group of perfectly acceptable options. So, no matter what
you choose, you can rest assured that the downside is limited.” Why/not?

7 Extension/homework

Design a flow chart that summarizes the advice from the talk. The flow chart should fit on a piece
of A4 paper and should be suitable to use as a poster to display in a workplace to help people make
decisions.

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Transcripts

3. Tune in

TRANSCRIPT: How to make faster decisions (TED, 4:54)

INTRODUCTION (0:00-1:31)

You’re probably familiar with FOMO.

That’s short for ”Fear Of Missing Out.” It’s that feeling you get when it seems everyone else is doing
something better than what you’re doing now. But there’s another FO you need to know about, and
it’s far more dangerous. It’s called FOBO, and it’s short for ”Fear of a Better Option.”

We live in a world of overwhelming choice. Even decisions that used to be simple, like choosing a
restaurant or making everyday purchases, are now fraught with overanalysis. Technology has only
made the issue more pronounced. If you want to buy a pair of white shoelaces online, you have
to sort through thousands of items and read through hundreds of reviews. That’s an astounding
amount of information to process to just buy two pieces of string that cost less than your morning
latte.

Chances are you’ve experienced FOBO when you’ve struggled to choose just one from a group
of perfectly acceptable outcomes. It’s a symptom of a culture which sees value in collecting and
preserving as many options as possible.

You might wonder why all of this is so bad. It seems counter-intuitive. Shouldn’t it be a privilege
to have so many good options to choose from? The problem is, FOBO induces such severe analysis
paralysis that it can negatively impact both your personal and professional life. When you can’t make
decisions with conviction, you waste precious time and energy.

Luckily, there is a way to overcome FOBO. Here’s a secret. With any decision you make, you first
have to determine the stakes, as this will inform your decision-making strategy. When it comes down
to it, you only really face three types of decisions in life: high stakes, low stakes and no stakes.

NO-STAKES DECISIONS (1:31-2:14)

Let’s start with no-stakes decisions. These are the minor details of life, where there is almost never an
incorrect answer, and in a few hours, you won’t even remember making the decision. A good example
of this is choosing what to watch on TV. With thousands of shows, it’s easy to get overwhelmed,
yet no matter what you pick, the consequences are basically non-existent. So spending more than
a few moments on FOBO is a massive waste of energy. You just need to move on.

When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example,
you can whittle down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favourite –
ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch, then let the second hand
tell you what you’re going to do. Looks like I’ll be having the fish.

LOW-STAKES DECISIONS (2:14-2:55)

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That brings us to low-stakes decisions. These have consequences, but none are earth-shattering,
and there are plenty of acceptable outcomes. Many routine things at work, like purchasing a printer,
booking a hotel or choosing between possible venues for an off-site are classically low-stakes in
nature. Some thinking is required, but these aren’t make-or-break deliberations, and you’ll probably
forget about them in a few weeks. Here, you can also outsource decision-making, but you want
some critical thinking involved, as there are some stakes. This time, you’ll outsource to a person.

Set some basic criteria, select someone to present a recommendation, and then take their advice.
Make sure to avoid the temptation to canvass. Your goal is to clear your plate, not to kick the can
down the road.

HIGH-STAKES DECISIONS (2:55-4:24)

Now that you tackled low-stakes and no-stakes decisions, you’ve created the space and time you’ll
need to handle high-stakes decisions. These are things like ”which house should I buy” or ”which
job should I accept.” Since the stakes are high and there are long-term implications, you absolutely
want to get it right.

Before we get to work, let’s establish a few basic principles to guide you through the process. First,
think about what really matters to you, and set your criteria accordingly.

Second, gather the relevant facts. Make sure you collect data about all of the options, so you can be
confident that you’re truly making an informed decision.

And third, remember that FOBO, by nature, comes when you struggle to choose just one from a
group of perfectly acceptable options. So no matter what you choose, you can rest assured that the
downside is limited.

Now that you’ve established some ground rules, the process can begin. Start by identifying a front-
runner based on your intuition, then compare each of your options head-to-head with the front-
runner, one-by-one. Each time choose the better of the two based on the criteria and discard the
other one. Here’s the trick to avoiding FOBO. When you eliminate an option, it’s gone forever. If
you keep returning to discarded options, you risk getting stuck. Now repeat this process until you
get down to one final choice.

If you follow this system, you will usually end up with a decision on your own. On the rare occasion
that you get stuck, you will outsource the final decision to a small group of qualified people who you
trust and who are equipped to provide you with guidance on this particular topic. Engage a group
of five or less, ideally an odd number of people so that you have a built-in tiebreaker if you need it.

CONCLUSION (4:24-4:54)

Now that you’ve made your choice, one last challenge remains. You have to commit. I can’t promise
you that you’ll ever truly know if you’ve made the perfect decision, but I can tell you this: a significant
percentage of people in the world will never have to worry about FOBO. Unlike the billions of people
who have few options, if any, due to war, poverty or illness, you have plentiful opportunities to live
decisively. You may not get everything you want, but the mere fact you get to decide is powerful.

In fact, it’s a gift. Make the most of it.

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Key

1. Warm up

7 mins. This stage introduces and personalises the topic for students. Working with the whole group, elicit some
responses to the first question and ask students to explain their answers. Then set the second question - you
could elicit or explain that ”high-stakes” is a gambling metaphor. Finally, elicit some answers to the third question,
and then tell students that they are going to find out more about this topic in the lesson.
1. (students’ own answers)
2. Probably, accepting a job offer has the highest stakes, although it could be argued that choosing the wrong
printer would also have a serious daily negative impact on everyone who uses it.
3. Students may suggest that people lack sufficient information, there are too many options, people don’t have a
clear process to follow, people fear taking responsibility, etc.

2. Tune in

7 mins. The purpose of this stage is to allow students to adjust to the speaker’s voice and pacing, while at the
same time allowing them to watch and respond to the introduction. Set the task first and then watch the video
clip (0:00-1:31). It’s best if students concentrate on watching the clip and answering from memory, rather than
making notes. They can make notes after checking the answers. If students need to watch again, they can. Go
over the answers with the whole class and encourage students to respond in their own words. For question 1,
also ask students if FOBO is a feeling that they recognize. For question 4, ask students to predict some examples
of the three types of decisions - they have already seen some in the Warm Up, and they should be able to think
of some more. You could record these to refer to later in the lesson, as you explore each type of decision.
1. FOBO = fear of a better option, ie feeling insecure about making a decision because it may not be the best one
2. Technology, for example internet shopping, makes us aware of too many options which makes decision-making
even more difficult.
3. FOBO leads to wasting time and energy on making decisions.
4. There are three types of decision: no-stakes, low-stakes and high-stakes.

3. Parts 1 & 2

10 mins. In this stage, students define and compare no- and low-stakes decisions. Set the task, checking that
students understand all the categories. Again, students should concentrate on watching the video rather than
making notes, as a lot of information is conveyed visually. After watching (1:31 - 2:55), students could work in
pairs to complete the table from memory before checking answers with the class.
ANSWERS: no-stakes decisions - example = choosing what to watch on TV / time frame = a few hours / how to
decide = flip a coin or ”ask your watch”. Low-stakes decisions - examples = purchasing a printer, booking a hotel
or choosing between venues for an off-site (meeting) / time frame = a few weeks / how to decide = give someone
else the necessary information, and then let them make the decision.

4. Part 3 & 4

10 mins. In this stage, students will receive information about a process to follow for making high-stakes decisions,
which have significant and long-term effects on their lives, and hear some final words of advice. Remind students
of the examples of high-stakes decisions that they predicted earlier or elicit some others (the talk refers to buying
a house or accepting a job offer). Set the task - students read stages A-G and work in pairs to put these in a logical

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order. Also call their attention to the final questions 2-4. Watch and check (2:55-4:54), then go over the answers
with the whole class. You could follow up question 2 by asking why the number five is significant - it’s because
having an odd number of opinions means that there will be a clear winning opinion.
1. ordering stages - 1G 2B 3F 4C 5A 6D 7E
2. If you can’t make a decision, you should ask a maximum of five qualified people for their advice, and follow
what most of them say.
3. The final step is committing to the decision or acting upon it.
4. The speaker says that having options is not possible for everyone, so we should use the opportunities we are
given.

5. Vocabulary

10 mins. In this stage, students define vocabulary from the talk which will be a useful addition to their active
vocabulary at this level. Students refer to the transcript and match the words in bold with the definitions, using
the context and grammar information to help. When you check answers, give the definition and ask students to
say the word to check pronunciation - the stressed syllables are underlined. At the same time, you can also elicit
or teach extra information about some of the items - see answers.
1. canvass - this is often used in a political context
2. counter-intuitive - related to the noun ”intuition”, which appears in Part 3 / the prefix counter- means ”against”
3. discard - often used in card games
4. criteria - this is actually the plural form, the singular is ”criterion”
5. conviction - often used in the collocation ”to lack conviction”
6. implications - the verb is ”imply”
7. outsource
8. paralysis - the verb is ”paralyse”
9. pronounced
10. whittle down - whittling is using a knife to make a piece of wood sharp.

6. Discuss

13 mins. In this stage, students can react to the content of the talk and share experiences and opinions. They can
work in pairs or small groups to discuss the questions. They should answer in full sentences and use vocabulary
from the lesson. You can use the Extension/Homework task as a substitute for this stage, if appropriate.

7. Extension/homework

3 mins. to explain. This stage could be set for homework, or as an alternative to the discussion. Students could
use a flow chart template from Word, or they could draw their own.

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