I think a lot about decision velocity, particularly how do we make high quality decisions quickly? One of the traps I see I call "the 50/50 decision". The 50/50 decision is a decision between two nearly identical options. The challenge when two options are nearly identical is that deciding which is better becomes very hard! You can spend a lot of time trying to find a reason why A or B is a better choice.
A good example of this was my first car. I was deciding between a Honda CRV and a Toyota Rav4. The vehicles were extremely similar in price, space, power, everything. I spent weeks agonizing over the decision.
The reality is both options would have been great. Also, cognitively, you're going to justify the decision you made no matter what. I loved my Honda CRV. I'm sure I made the best choice!
Recently we faced a similar 50/50 decision at Cobot trying to decide which AI notetaking tool to pick. There are lots of good options and the team was ready to set up a set of test and trials to try to determine which would work out best. I intervened and said "stop, this is a 50/50 call, all the options are going to be great and it's going to be hard to decide... so far we've been using this one and we like it, just keep it." AI notetaking also happens to be a two-way door decision where it's reversible if somehow we start hating our choice.
That's my decision-making tip this week! Don't spend too much time on 50/50 decision. Make a choice and fall in love with your choice.
Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/brad-porter-s-top-of-mind-7346603629086167040/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!