Palette of Opportunities.

At one time, Harry Truman liked to say: "I need a one-armed economic advisor." The point of the joke is that, trying to protect themselves, instead of a specific recommendation, the advisors pointed out the pros and cons of each solution option (on the one hand, on the other hand…).

It would be easier for Truman now. Lawyers excluded from the sample, the modern world welcomes quick, unambiguous decisions. Otherwise, you may not be on time.

And in order to further speed up and facilitate the search for an answer, the easiest way is to make the choice uncontested. And yes, Paul Nutt has done the most detailed research on the decision-making process. Finding that only 29% of CEOs consider more than one alternative before making a decision.

However, in the long run, yes / no choices were successful in 48% of cases. And when the final version was chosen from several alternatives - in 68% of cases.

Yes / no decisions – for example, whether to change one’s job or launch a startup - drastically narrow the scope for analyzing options. The vision of your own future is simplified. The thoughts are excluded - is it possible to combine several alternatives, is there a better option, or is it worth doing something completely different?

In general, reducing the options makes the decision easier, but not optimal.

When making decisions you should better expand the palette of your possibilities in order to make the best choice.