S2E3: The Basics - How to stop wasting time and energy on decisions

In this episode Michelle shares what's at the root of decision paralysis and offers up tips on how to save time and energy in the decision making process

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Srinivas Rao's Unmistakable Creative Tribe

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz

Catching the Next Wave Podcast

Summary:

- The quality of a decision is separate and distinct from the quality of the outcome

- You have two different systems for decision making: System 1 (fast) and System 2 (slow); reserve System 2 for decisions that really warrant it

- You have a finite reservoir of energy for System 2. Decision fatigue occurs when you exhaust it.

- Even though you've been socialized to want to maximize every decision, the incremental ROI (return on investment) of time and energy isn't always worth it.

- Identify which decisions deserve to be processed with System 1, then for others, decide in advance, use rule-based heuristics, or delegate decision making

 

To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check out

• The Ask A Decision Engineer website
• Her Stanford Continuing Studies course
• Her self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal Decisions
• Her Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

About Michelle Florendo

Michelle Florendo is a Stanford-trained decision engineer and executive coach who is on a mission to teach people how to make decisions with less stress and more clarity. Over the past decade, she has coached and taught hundreds of leaders across tech, healthcare, and financial services, in organizations ranging from pre-IPO startups to major tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Salesforce. 

 

She's been an adjunct lecturer at Stanford, helps train coaches as a faculty coach for Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute, and hosts the podcast, Ask A Decision Engineer. She earned her engineering degree from Stanford and her MBA from UC Berkeley.

For those interested in exploring Michelle's coaching and speaking services further, additional information can be found on her professional website at poweredbydecisions.com.