Indecisive? Here’s How to Always Make the Right Decision
Not all decisions are created equal.
Categorizing life’s biggest conundrums by reversible vs. irreversible — a method introduced by Mr. Bezos in his famous 2015 letter to shareholders —will transform how to devote your time and energy.
Although Bezos intended this framework to be applied primarily to large-scale corporations, I have found that it’s equally applicable to our daily lives.
The decisions worth deliberating
An “irreversible decision” is what Bezos classifies as a Type 1 decision. Not to scare anyone, but these are somewhat permanent because they are difficult and often almost impossible to walk back on. Bezos explains:
Some decisions are consequential and irreversible or nearly irreversible — one-way doors — and these decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation. If you walk through and don’t like what you see on the other side, you can’t get back to where you were before. We can call these Type 1 decisions.
Sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Fortunately, only about 10% of all our decisions fall into this category.
A relevant example of a Type 1 decision is accepting a new job offer. It is technically “irreversible” because generally, you will be unable to (or want to) go back to your previous place of employment. Following Bezos’s advice, we’d therefore want to follow a deliberate, heavyweight process to evaluate if switching to this new position is the right decision.
“Heavyweight” doesn’t mean “complicated”. In fact, it’s probably best to streamline this process as much as possible. You’d start by weighing the pros and cons of switching jobs, and consider which factors are most important to you. For example, below are some factors you might consider:
- Compensation
- Health care and other benefits
- Work-life balance
- Team and company culture
- Location
From here, you can rank each factor from least to most important. Your bias should then be towards the job that ranks higher on the more important factors.
After going through this “heavyweight” process, you will feel much more confident about the choice you made: you’ve done all the checks in a methodical, and deliberate way. The same logical thought process can be applied to other Type 1 decisions we face, such as adopting a golden retriever, purchasing a home, or investing your life savings in a new business venture.
Where NOT to be indecisive
Conversely, a “Type 2” decision is one that is reversible. It’s like entering a room — once you go in you can exit. If 10% of all decisions are Type 1, then a whopping 90% of decisions are Type 2. Bezos explains this well:
If you’ve made a suboptimal Type 2 decision, you don’t have to live with the consequences for that long. You can reopen the door and go back through.
The problem for many people is that we often treat such reversible decisions as irreversible, spending much of precious energy and time on a choice that was never fixed in stone.
What are some Type 2 decisions? Social plans that you’re invited to (you can always leave early!), which apartment to rent (slightly longer term, but still reversible), who to befriend, and even what to wear.
I often fall into the trap of spending hours deliberating on such topics. I’m completely drained by the time I’ve made my final decision, but did I really need to go through such lengths? Lately, the answer to this has been “no”.
Wrapping it up
Especially for indecisive people like myself, every choice in our lives can seem so important and so impactful. We should remind ourselves that some decisions aren’t nearly as big of a commitment as we’re making them out to be.
But for those bigger ticket decisions, working slowly and deliberately through an appropriate framework will be essential to help us make the right call.
Are you ready to join me in the journey toward making better decisions?
