Book Review: Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath

Book Description

Publication Date: March 26, 2013

Chip and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick, tackle one of the most critical topics in our work and personal lives: how to make better decisions.　
   Research in psychology has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn’t. We get distracted by short-term emotions. When it comes to making choices, it seems, our brains are flawed instruments. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesn’t fix the problem, any more than knowing that we are nearsighted helps us to see. The real question is: How can we do better?

   In Decisive, the Heaths, based on an exhaustive study of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. Written in an engaging and compulsively readable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.

   Along the way, we learn the answers to critical questions like these: How can we stop the cycle of agonizing over our decisions? How can we make group decisions without destructive politics? And how can we ensure that we don’t overlook precious opportunities to change our course?　

   Decisive is the Heath brothers’ most powerful—and important—book yet, offering fresh strategies and practical tools enabling us to make better choices. Because the right decision, at the right moment, can make all the difference.

My Thoughts

Another must read! This was another good summer read. This book opened my eyes to the process of decision making. We all make decisions thousands of times a day so in many ways we are experts. However, what I like about this book is that it helped me to understand decision making process and what goes into our every decisions.

The authors go into the system on how to make valid decisions. They walk you through the steps of how to make a proper decision and how to identify the the issues that can cause us to make incorrect decisions.

I took down a ton of notes on my Evernote page. I look forward to having a Twitter chat on this book and the ideas. I have found this book to being pivotal at a time in my life when I had a major decision to make. Using the tools and questions provided I feel that I made the right choice.

If you have read the other books by these authors, then you know what you are going to get. Quality writing with useful ideas that anyone can implement.

Another solid read and will be using these skills and tools over and over and again!