10/10/10

There's an interesting decision making technique that I came across in the book Decisive. It's called 10/10/10. The technique was developed by Suzy Welch. She has a book by the same name.

The idea is to think about how you will feel about a decision in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. The idea being discussed in Decisive is how to avoid short-term emotion when making a decision. Bad decisions, they say, are made while having strong emotions such as anger or greed.

For example, I recently bought a new car, what a lot of people would agree can be an emotional event. Ten minutes after I walked out the door, I'd be excited about the new car and happy with my decision.

In ten months, I may still be thinking about the car I didn't buy and if I would have been happier in that one.

Ten years from now I'll be happy I choose the car that was more reliable over the one that would have been fun, but probably had more problems. If I didn't keep the car ten years, I would have been happy that the car I choose was the one with the higher resale value.

So next time you have a decision to make, think about 10/10/10.

More Zen & Motorcycle Maintenance

So I'm still making my way through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was reading a section the other night about "stuckness." In the story, he's talking about what happens when you're trying to remove a screw and end up tearing the slot. You're stuck, you can't get that screw out.

In Zen, the idea is to reach this point, then your mind is empty because there isn't a solution. You now have a beginner's mind and can start to really understand the problem.

Have you had the situation in a project when you're faced with a decision and don't know the best option? You have too many things running through your mind? When I'm faced with this situation, I like to try to take some time to meditate and clear my mind. Then I can start looking at the problem with that beginner's mind and hopefully make the right decision.