The Seven Steps of Decision Making

1. Determine that a decision is needed: Recognizing the need for a decision is the first step. This awareness often arises from a problem or an opportunity that requires action.
2. Determine the decision’s importance: Assessing the significance of the decision helps prioritize it among other tasks. This step ensures that time and resources are allocated appropriately.
3. Assess what limits apply to the decision: Identifying constraints such as time, budget, and resources is crucial. These limits shape the scope of possible solutions.
4. Determine possible choices: Brainstorming and listing all potential options provide a broad view of possible actions. This step encourages creativity and ensures that no viable option is overlooked.
5. Gather information about the possible choices: Collecting relevant data and insights about each option helps in understanding their implications. This information forms the basis for evaluating the choices.
6. Evaluate or test the possible choices: Analyzing the pros and cons of each option, often through methods like SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), helps in comparing them objectively.
7. Decide & implement the decision (or recycle): Making the final choice and putting it into action is the culmination of the process. If the decision does not yield the desired results, revisiting and recycling through the steps may be necessary.

It is important to remember that decision making is not all logic. There is often much to analyze and simple problems require reason, but complicated problems also requite emotions. Also, you need a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking.

Creativity plays an important role in decision making as well. Being creative does not demand great skill or require being artistic. It is also not a function of intelligence.

Do you want to learn more about how to make better business and personal decisions? Do you want to learn about finding or creating useful options? If so, check out the webinar, How to Make Better Business and Personal Decisions.