Quantify Your Followers to Make Better Decisions
When it comes to tough decisions, you should usually start with a list of fraudulent advocates. These lists are nothing new, but there is an interesting way to make them more useful: quantify each item in the list and then add it all up.
In his book Get Smarter: Lessons from Life and Business, entrepreneur Seymour Schulich offers an effective way of making decisions based on a roster of criminals. Instead of just making a standard list of things to think about, you give each item a numerical value for importance. He explains the process:
On one sheet of paper, list all the positives that you can say about the issue at hand, then give each a score from zero to ten – the higher the score, the more important it is to you. On another sheet, list the negative scores and rate them from zero to ten – only this time ten means it’s a serious flaw … If the positive score is at least twice the negative score, you should do it – whatever “is But if the positives don’t outweigh the negative because of the two-to-one ratio, don’t, or at least think twice about it.
Actually I am using a method similar to this one, but I am not using Schulich’s double metric to make a decision. My pro number just needs to be higher than the rogue’s number. But I think Schulich’s rule might be a better measure, because it takes into account the bias of optimism – our habit of exaggerating the positive aspects of something.
You know your own trends, so you can adjust your net profit rule accordingly. In any case, quantifying each element requires the old standby and makes it a little more rewarding. Check out the full post for more details.
Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons | through Farnam Street