Making a Decision Is...Choosing

you decided whether or not you would go along with the instructions perhaps you decided to see what other people would do or to ignore the whole thing maybe you decided to do one thing then changed your mind along the way but how and why did you decide to do what you did just what is a decision anyway and what's the most effective way of making one everyone is an experienced decision maker because we all choose between a number of Alternatives many times a day probably the first decision you made today was when you chose whether or not to get up this [Music] morning when you think about it we have to make up our minds about a tremendous number of choices every day do you want eggs this morning George George yeah yeah fine one or two two boiled scrambled fried or poached fried will be fine you had fried eggs yesterday sure you don't want them poached sunny side up or over easy o o over easy I dropped one okay if one is scrambled I fry the other scramble them both go ahead of course most of your choices are pretty routine more like a reflex in a decision fry some bacon huh crisp or soft yet we each have those times when the choice we make can affect our entire lives George should we move to Mexico sometimes we tend to labor a long time over a decision and sometimes we make our choice very quickly but an important thing to consider when you're making up your mind is this how much will the decision affect your life and how much will it affect the lives of others rocky road is good but I don't like nuts maybe strawberry no I had that yesterday if we got married now I'd have to quit school but if we wait he might change his mind Jimmy says licorice Ripple is good but I don't know like what he does the job sounds great but I'd really rather live in California maybe one Scoopa living crunch in L of beach MAA if I got a job as a secretary I could start my career right away College takes four years but then I'd have a degree if I just got one scoop I have enough left to buy some peanuts that job is Foreman pay is better all right but I like working with tools More Than People vanilla is always safe but then even not choosing is in itself a [Music] decision of course not choosing is the kind of decision that usually doesn't leave you much freedom because in most cases it means that some someone else makes a decision that you'll have to live with on the other hand reaching an important decision too quickly making a snap judgment or simply leaving the choice up to fate or luck isn't very effective either for instance how would you like a decision that affects your life to be made like this you're in charge of the case Doctor what's your decision operate we're out there General our supplies are cut off here this division is entirely surrounded under heavy bombardment all along the front well I just had that gut feeling we should attack my calculations indicate that it would cause a violent explosion maybe but my intuition tells me well the decisions you make in your own life can be made that casually you can leave them to luck or to some vague feeling you might have at the moment but there's a more effective way of making up your mind it's based on this simple fact decision making is a skill like any skill it takes some knowledge and some practice to be really good at it [Music] [Applause] because it is a skill making an effective decision is something you can [Music] learn today you can choose from a great many Lifestyles from a wide variety of places to live and things to do the ability to make the right choice at the right time isn't only a work skill it's a life skill it can give you a lot more personal choice and individual Freedom like all skills the better you learn it and practice it the more confidence you'll have all right just how does a skilled decision maker go about making up his mind first of all he knows that there's a general plan that can help in making an effective decision and the first step lies in discovering what you want the outcome of that decision to be now that sounds pretty simple but let's just have a [Music] [Applause] [Music] look the biggest biggies with some decisions the come you want his out he wants to be going the other way we'll come back to him in a minute other decisions take some heavy thinking about what you want the outcome to be take a really big decision for example maybe the biggest one you'll ever make how do you want to spend the rest of your life that means you have to think about your personal goals what you'd like to be what you'd like to do how you'd like to live what you decide will affect a lot of your future choices like School marriage children career that's it Jimmy Focus right in there all right class who wants to be next me me me me this is June Mason reporting from cadel Soul where the government of San Pedro is meeting in secret session sources here say that officials will not reach a decision until late next week got to stand firmed by your principles and firmed by your belief we all have fantasies and Daydreams about how we'd like to live what we'd like to be but when we get down to seriously thinking about it most of us can come up with some answers to this question what are really the most important things to [Applause] [Music] you probably a number of these values are important to you and you might want to add some others it's a good idea to put your values in order too figuring out which ones are more important to you than others once you've really thought out what you value the most what your real objectives are you're already onethird of the way along in making some very effective [Music] decisions Frank knows instantly what he values his life the lives of others his property the property of others he knows the priority of those values to Frank life is more important than property property is more important than not getting a ticket now what to do about it that brings us to the second step of how to make a skilled decision once you discover what you want you can move on to find out how to get it that means getting all the facts and looking at all your options let's take an example from one of those big decisions what you want out of [Music] life suppose June decided these are important values to her so are some others and she's put her values in order of priority now June needs facts what are the qualifications what training will she need where and how how do you get that training what are the chances of actually getting the job will the lifestyle she imagines really give June what she wants how long is it likely to last what do people with real experience think about it and what are her options there may be many ways to get the results Hereafter some of those options might give you just what you're looking for remember too the more options you come up with the more freedom you have been making your final decision for Frank the facts are very apparent hey you're headed the wrong way no one really has to point out the facts now to consider the options Frank can do nothing or he can abandon his car or well me I just put it in reverse and back it right up to the corner hey fella why don't you make a uturn no no just make a dash for that next corner see it hey buddy you better get turned around without driving at all get that turn around without driving well now that Frank's got the facts and more than enough help with his options he's got a good start toward finding out how to get what he wants and that brings us to the last step figuring out your best chance for Success figuring out your chances involves evaluating all the conditions judging all the consequences considering all the risks in other words thinking out which Choice has the best odds getting what you want that journalism degree and competition is tough you need incredible luck and breaks starting pay is good and you do travel a lot but much of the work is routine I wouldn't have to go to college though if I just say for a couple of years and just took off then what happens when the money runs out of course I might get lucky the service guarantees overseas travel and there's plenty of security but if I the car coat away and if I just sit here sooner or later I'll get a ticket if I try to back up to the corner I run the risk of I could make a dash to the next intersection but what if if I grab a U-turn right here in the middle of the street if I could just figure out some way to now let me think this out those are the basic skills of making an effective decision first discovering what you want second finding out how to get it by having the facts and considering your options and third figuring your chances for Success oh about those decisions what Frank and June decided to do what decision would you make if you were in their place [Music] June found there was a demand for travel counselors and tour group leaders she decided this gave her the best opportunity of achieving her goals with the least risk of failure so she studied the things that qualified her for the job found out how and where to apply and there she is conducting a tour of [Music] Tokyo as for Frank remember we said The more options you can figure out the more freedom you'll have when it comes to making a decision well Frank worked out an option that got him going where he wanted to go with minimum risk and a maximum chance of [Music] success well if that's all there is to it discovering what you want finding out how to get it and figuring out your chances what's the big deal about decision making since it is a skill and we make machines to perform other skills why not machines to make decisions good question excuse me it's a blueprint oh yes thank you Doctor of course there's a lot more to making decisions than the few things we've discussed here but you've been given the basics let's suppose for a moment that a machine is programmed for all those Basics and a lot of additional refinements as well here at the international deciding Institute the final tests are being made on the great decision-making machine of course you recognize the institute's director of research and development Dr Winslow kman Schmidt whose scientific team is just completing the final assembly of this remarkable mechanism excuse me doct I know the world would like to know what comments you might have on this historic moment well uh we all knows that since the beginning of time man has been called upon to make decisions uh some have been bad decisions some have been disastrous well if this the result of 17 years of hard work proves successful then all future decisions will be good ones experience component install do excuse me of course doctor and good luck we can see now that the ultimate test is about to get underway in just a few moments now the gdm the great decision maker will be asked to make its first decision actualization tape ready Choice component set check open evaluation Val open and standing by go leading stabiliz countdown on strategy circuit countdown energize all right everybody here we go I can't make up my [Music] because I'm not human machines can do a lot of things for us sometimes they can even help us with some kinds of decisions by making measurements storing up facts figuring out probabilities but when it comes right down to making the choice toward reaching the ultimate decision it takes a human being after all a decision that's right for someone else might be totally wrong for you it's a matter of personal needs and values of individual attitudes and feelings and that's why you are your best decision maker [Music]