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82 Types of Decision Making

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Decision making is the process of choosing a course of action. The following are common techniques and thought processes that can be used to make decisions. These include approaches for both group and individual decisions.
A/B testing
Argument and debate
Beginning with a problem statement
Benefit of doubt - believing in others without being too suspicious
Brainstorming
Breaking large decisions into smaller decisions
Challenging assumptions
Charrette - stay in a room as a group until the decision is made
Conceptualize - build concepts to better understand problems and solutions
Consensus decision making to try to gain general acceptance of a decision
Consider all options
Consider ethical implications
Consider opportunity costs
Contemplation
Cost-benefit analysis
Counterfactual thinking - consider how the past could have been different
Critical thinking
Decision analysis
Decision authority - assign authority for decision to one person
Decision automation - algorithms, decision models and artificial intelligence
Decision rationale that documents alternatives considered
Decision research
Decision trees that work out what happens for each choice as a tree
Defensive pessimism - using optimism to generate ideas and pessimism to validate them
Design thinking - design things to solve the problem
Develop a weighted scoring for alternatives
Develop requirements for the solution
Divergent thinking - try to reinvent
Do nothing strategy - a decision to do nothing, often the best strategic choice
Experiments
Feasibility studies
Financial analysis
First principles - use rules that you hold to be true
Focus groups
Human factors - think in realistic ways that consider human realities
Incubation - taking time to think
Introspection - examine yourself
Intuition - go with a gut feeling
Keep it simple - choose the most direct and obvious solution
Last responsible moment - deferring a decision until it really needs to be made
List pros and cons
List short and long term consequences
List what is important to you
List your goals
List your values
Listing what you don't know
Listing what you know
Maximax criterion - maximize gain without concern for risk
Minimax criterion - minimize a worst case scenario
Objectivity - try to overcome your involvement to be more realistic and grounded
PEST analysis
Pareto analysis - the 80/20 rule
Perform a premortem for an option by listing what will go wrong
Pragmatism - accept real world conditions and do what is most likely to achieve goals
Preserving ambiguity - avoiding assumptions too early in the process
Principles - develop rules to be applied to the decision
Prioritize your goals
Prototypes
Randomization - reducing overthinking with randomization such as a coin toss
Rank alternatives
Reframing your problem statement
Reverse brainstorming
Risk assessments
Root cause analysis to separate cause from symptoms
SWOT analysis
Sanity check - ask if solution makes any sense whatsoever
Satisficing - pick the first reasonable option you find
Seek advice and consultation
Set decision criteria
Small steps - taking small steps now and deferring big decisions
Strategic dominance - a choice that is optimal no matter what happens
Structuring your choices
Surveys and polls
Systems thinking to consider real world complexities such as unintended consequences
Think aloud - speaking without filters
Think from different perspectives e.g. what do competitors not want you to do?
Think in different modes e.g. emotional, logical, traditional
Thought experiment - simplify the problem with analogies
Trade-off analysis
Try to identify biases in decisions
Work to eliminate alternatives until you are down to a few choices
Working hypothesis - temporarily adopt a hypothesis to test it
More about decision making:
A/B Testing
Abilene Paradox
Abstract Concept
Analysis Paralysis
Analytic Reasoning
Assertions
Benefit Of Doubt
Boil The Frog
Choice Architecture
Cold Logic
Collective Intelligence
Consensus
Convergent Thinking
Counterfactual
Creativity
Critical Thinking
Decision Analysis
Decision Authority
Decision Balance
Decision Costs
Decision Fatigue
Decision Framing
Decision Mapping
Decision Modelling
Decision Quality
Decision Rationale
Decision Support
Decision Tree
Devil's Advocate
Disagree And Commit
Divergent Thinking
Emotional Intelligence
Failure Of Imagination
Fallacies
Generalization
Group Decisions
Groupthink
Heuristics
Ideation
Imagination
Inaction
Indecision
Introspection
Intuition
Keep It Simple
Logic
Maximax Criterion
Minimax Criterion
Motivated Reasoning
Non Decision
Normative Model
Objectivity
Opportunity Cost
Overthinking
Paradox Of Choice
Pareto Analysis
Predictive Analytics
Preserving Ambiguity
Prioritization
Reverse Brainstorming
Sanity Check
Satisficing
Serious Game
Strategic Dominance
Thought Experiment
Tradeoffs
Visual Analytics
Visual Thinking
More ...
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