BOOK REVIEW: Decisions, decisions — a smart guide to making the right choices
To protect decisions against bias, people need to know when they can trust their gut feelings, writes Eugene Yiga
Decisions, decisions. They take up time that can’t be spared, demand information that isn’t available and cause unwanted stress. This is why many people use shortcuts or routines to deal with smaller decisions (like which shoe to put on first) — they’re not worth the trouble. But bigger decisions sometimes mean the right choice will result in success and happiness, and the wrong one will lead to misery and pain. How should people respond when the pressure is high and they are afraid of making the wrong choice? Unfortunately, many people choose not to respond at all. Or they make their decision too quickly, too slowly or too randomly. It’s only when the worst outcome results that they see how things could have been done better. By then it’s too late. Smart Choices was written by three respected academics: the late Howard Raiffa of Harvard, Ralph Keeney from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and John Hammond from the University of Southern California. Their goal was to develop...
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