Wrong Train, Right Time (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2017-11-11 07:24 pm
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2017-11-11 07:24 pm
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Decisive by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Heath, Chip and Dan Heath. Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. Crown Publishing Group, 2013. eBook.
I generally side-eye self-help books, but I picked up Decisive because it was highly recommended by a blogger whose opinions I generally find common-sensical and because I was desperate. The past few months have not been great on the anxiety-about-the-future front and I really needed a perspective on decision-making that came from outside my own head, or, indeed, the heads of my family or friends.
And if you need advice about making decisions, I feel like the Heaths' book is a pretty good way to go. The Heaths have a very personable and casual voice that helps the book really feel like friendly advice as opposed to pronouncements about the Right Way from on high. The book itself introduces a process for better decision-making that helps with that: they freely acknowledge that they can't tell you what the right decision is. Just how to statistically increase the probability that you're making the right choice. I very much appreciated their philosophy of decision-making and human fallibility in the face of the future.
One thing I really liked about the book is that it's absolutely packed with examples and case studies, and quite a few of them are from non-business domains, including some about very personal decisions. Each example is explained and broken down so you can really see the principles they suggest in practice and have space to consider how that principle might've helped the person or organization in question make a better decision than they might have in another situation.
Decisive was a quick, enjoyable, and thought-provoking read. There's lots to absorb here, from the weirdness of decision-making processes that we take for granted, to straightforward and helpful tips on how to refine your own decision-making process. I also appreciated the inclusion of extras like the research notes and "decision clinic" exercises. Overall, recommended if you need some decision-making advice. I'm definitely a lot more interested in their previous books than I was before reading this one.
I generally side-eye self-help books, but I picked up Decisive because it was highly recommended by a blogger whose opinions I generally find common-sensical and because I was desperate. The past few months have not been great on the anxiety-about-the-future front and I really needed a perspective on decision-making that came from outside my own head, or, indeed, the heads of my family or friends.
And if you need advice about making decisions, I feel like the Heaths' book is a pretty good way to go. The Heaths have a very personable and casual voice that helps the book really feel like friendly advice as opposed to pronouncements about the Right Way from on high. The book itself introduces a process for better decision-making that helps with that: they freely acknowledge that they can't tell you what the right decision is. Just how to statistically increase the probability that you're making the right choice. I very much appreciated their philosophy of decision-making and human fallibility in the face of the future.
One thing I really liked about the book is that it's absolutely packed with examples and case studies, and quite a few of them are from non-business domains, including some about very personal decisions. Each example is explained and broken down so you can really see the principles they suggest in practice and have space to consider how that principle might've helped the person or organization in question make a better decision than they might have in another situation.
Decisive was a quick, enjoyable, and thought-provoking read. There's lots to absorb here, from the weirdness of decision-making processes that we take for granted, to straightforward and helpful tips on how to refine your own decision-making process. I also appreciated the inclusion of extras like the research notes and "decision clinic" exercises. Overall, recommended if you need some decision-making advice. I'm definitely a lot more interested in their previous books than I was before reading this one.