The book challenges the conventional wisdom of decision-making and provides a new vocabulary and practical tools for making better choices. A few examples:
- To “ooch” is to take incremental steps toward your solution rather than trying to tackle it all at once. For example, if you are unsure whether social media will support your school’s admissions, you may want to narrow your efforts to Facebook during the upcoming enrollment season rather than developing a strategy that includes Twitter, Pinterest and the like.
- When you “ladder up” you are looking for potential solutions from industries outside your own. If you are trying to make a decision about your facilities, don’t simply look at other independent schools for the answer, but consider examples from apartment buildings, museums or amusement parks!
- The “10-10-10” principle helps to create emotional distance between you and the decision. In this scenario, ask yourself if you will be comfortable with the potential result 10 minutes from now, 10 months from now or 10 years from now. For me, this helps take the pressure off many decisions that appear to be important in the moment but won’t really matter down the road.
- By setting a “tripwire,” you use benchmarks, deadlines or other signals to snap you to attention at the right time, compelling you to make a decision or reconsider a behavior. Tripwires can cap your risk as well as provide psychic comfort by letting you stay on autopilot until the trigger is reached. An example might be dealing with delinquent families: After X days, charging privileges are suspended. After X days, student may be suspended.
As you may surmise, the entire NBOA staff got a lot out of Decisive. I wholeheartedly recommend this enjoyable read as a way to get your staff thinking about the decisions that impact your school. After all, we all would benefit from “zooming in or zooming out” as we make decisions. (And if you don’t get the zoom in/out reference … read the book!”)
