The Secrets of Making Decisions
Dr. John C. Maxwell
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” Peter Drucker
“Whenever you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Yogi Berra
10 Questions that Sharpen Your Decision-making Skills
1. What are my ______?
Why I Opt for Options:
1)The more options I have the greater possibility for ______.
2)The more options I have the more I can see what is not ______.
3)Options are a result of thinking…______.
2. Is this ______?
“Don’t drive a bargain so hard that the other person becomes a loser.” - Maxey Jarman
Harvard University commissioned a thirty-year study of successful CEOS. One common trait among them: altruism. I define altruism as this…
“______.”
That attitude makes for mutually beneficial and better decisions.
Success is too often… What I have done for ______.
Significance is always… What I have done for ______.
Why I Strive to Make Mutually Beneficial Decisions:
- A personal value of mine is ______.
- Partnership compounds ______, ______and ______.
- ______are important to me.
3. What is the ______?
“All life is the management of risk, not its elimination.” - Walter Wriston
Two Risk Principles to Follow:
1) If you can take the ______, take the ______.
Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can – and surely will at times – fail. Other vulnerabilities, like risking embarrassment or risking love, can be terrifying too.
The Strategy of Risk
In face of friendship’s failure am I to back away,
retreat to my turtle fortress and say,
“Enough! No more! I’ll not be hurt again.”
Or do I, parent-like, God-like,
run out into the roadway to welcome the wanderer home
with ring and robe and warm embrace!
And that it takes to know the answer
is a bit of patience, a touch of imagination,
and enough love to take the risk.
- Robin E. Van Cleef. From Alive Now!
2) Know when enough is ______.
“Nobody gets everything they want. If they do, they don’t want enough.” - Ted Turner
“If you have something you can’t live without, you don’t own it, it owns you.” - Albert Schweitzer
4. Is it ______?
“Make hay while the sun shines - that’s smart;
Go fishing during the harvest - that’s stupid.” Proverbs 10:7 (Message)
People are intuitive in the area of their ______.
Tips on Timing:
1) Lead out of your ______.
2) Most timing decisions are ______, rather than early.
“If you see a band wagon, it’s too late.” Sir James Goldsmith
3) Timing can be developed by practicing ______.
Disciplined Imagination is taking the ______facts and extending them into the ______.
4) Practice the “Peak to Peak” Principle…
Make your most important decisions at the height of your journey, not at its lowest level.
5. Do I have ______?
Michelangelo:
The last 14 years of his life he did not finish a single ______.
The last 22 years of his life he did not finish a single ______.
Montesquieu said, “Success often depends on knowing how long it will take to succeed.” The secret of success: never let down and never let up. Many times success consists of hanging on one minute longer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings.”
6. What are the long-term ______?
Every action has a reaction. We are free to act, but we are not free from the consequences of our act.
7. Have I asked for ______?
“Giving advice isn’t as risky as people say. Few ever take it anyway.” - William Feather
Three Criteria When Asking Advice
1) Will this person take my question ______?
2) Is my question in this person’s area of ______?
3) Does the person have ______to think through my questions?
8. Am I afraid to ______?
One person who gave the Lyman Beecher lectures at Yale remarked, “Some people, if they saw a sign, this way to heaven, and another sign, this way to a discussion on heaven, would take the discussion.” Some people like to wear out a decision just talking about it.
9. Am I making a ______decision, or a ______one?
Perhaps the greatest life management skill is knowing when to say yes and when to say no. All kinds of opportunities and decisions confront us. We can’t say yes to all of them. Neither do we want to be ungracious, saying no simply for our own convenience.
Why it’s hard to say “no.”
For many of us, saying no doesn’t come naturally. Why?
1) We want to be ______.
2) We want to appear ______.
3) We want to earn ______.
Our best efforts don’t come from frantic activity but from concentrated attention.
How to Decide “Yes” or “No”
1) Is this consistent with my ______?
2) Is this within my area of ______?
3) Is this helpful to my ______I founded?
4) Is this approved by my ______?
10. Have I validated the decision in ______?
Guidelines for Prayer when Making Decisions
1) Ask God to help you remain ______.
2) Do not knowingly violate ______.
3) Be suspicious of decisions that heighten the ______.
4) Ask God to speak to your ______.
One of childhood’s favorite authors, the late Theodor S. Geisel (best known as “Dr. Seuss”), wrote a poem about the difficulty, but necessity, of making decisions. It reads, in part….
Did I tell you before about the Zoad
Who came to two signs at the fork in the road?
One said to Place One; the other Place Two.
So the Zoad had to make up his mind what to do.
Well, the Zoad scratched his head, his chin and his pants
And said to himself, I’m taking a chance.
If I go to Place One it may be too hot
And how do I know if I’ll like it or not?
Place Two must be best.
On the other hand, I’d be some sort of fool
If I go to Place Two and find it too cool.
In that case I might catch a chill and turn blue.
So maybe Place One is the best, not Two.
On the other hand though, if Place One is too high
I might get a terrible earache and die.
On the other hand though,
If Place Two is too low
I might get some strange pain in my toe.
Place One must be best – and he started to go.
Then he stopped and said, “On the other hand,
The other hand, the other hand, though…”
And for 36 hours and a half that poor Zoad
Made starts and stops at the fork in the road,
Saying don’t take that chance, it might not be right.
Then he got an idea that was wonderfully bright.
Safe! cried the Zoad, I’ll play safe, I’m no dunce,
I’ll simply start out for both places at once.
And that’s how the Zoad, who would not take a chance,
Got no place at all, with a split in his pants.
GiANT Impact / - 1 - /