{"id":41306,"date":"2021-07-08T10:48:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T14:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=41306"},"modified":"2021-07-12T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T21:28:55","slug":"making-better-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Key to Making Better Decisions: Forget Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you find it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-is-it-hard-to-make-decisions\/\">hard to make decisions<\/a>? What is the key to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/make-better-decisions-2\/\">making better decisions<\/a>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clayton Christensen shows how economic theories can help us with making better decisions in his book <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/clayton-christensen-how-will-you-measure-your-life\/\">How Will You Measure Your Life<\/a>?<\/em> Find out why experience isn\u2019t the best guide for your decisions and why you should use theories instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about making better decisions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Making Better Decisions Using Theories&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to make good decisions in life, using theories might help. When making better decisions, people often try to predict what will happen based on as much data as they can gather; however, <strong>data only tells you what happened in the past. Letting it drive your choices is like driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror<\/strong>; you can\u2019t see where you\u2019re going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, you can base decisions on experience, but often, you don\u2019t have time to learn on the job\u2014for instance, to go through a couple of divorces to learn about relationships, or a couple of kids to master parenting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, theories are more helpful in making better decisions because they tell you what will happen without you having to experience it first. This is key to knowing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/effective-decision-making-how-to-make-good-decisions\/\">how to make good decisions<\/a> in life. Good theories take the form of \u201cif \u2026 then\u201d statements (for example, <em>if <\/em>you don\u2019t align your resources with your strategy, <em>then<\/em> your strategy will fail). You can see what actions cause what outcomes and why, then make a wise decision.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, developing a theory of lift was the key to humans learning to fly. Prior to this, people failed to fly because they didn\u2019t understand causation. Since creatures with wings and feathers could fly (a correlation), early inventors tried building similar wings and jumping from high places, which failed. They didn\u2019t understand what actually causes or enables flight until 1738, when mathematician Daniel Bernoulli presented a theory that explained how lift makes it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Developing and refining further theories in the form of rules telling pilots what to do under different types of circumstances eventually made flight predictable and reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Applying Theories to Decision Making<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, solving problems in life requires understanding what actions cause what outcomes. The theories explained in this book will help you see cause and effect. They\u2019re reliable\u2014they stem from university research, which has been tested in a variety of organizations. Each chapter highlights a business theory and applies it to a personal challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, to solve a complicated problem, you may need the insights of more than one theory. For example, besides the theory of lift, early aviators also needed to understand the theories of gravity and resistance. So readers will find it useful to examine problems from the perspective of several different theories in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Operating without a theory is like navigating at sea without directional instruments\u2014you\u2019re relying on the currents and chance. However, good theories point you in the direction of making better decisions in business and life. From there, it\u2019s up to you. <strong>Theories tell you <em>how<\/em> to think about key decisions, not <em>what<\/em> to think. <\/strong>If you want to find out how to make good decisions in life, consider applying Clayton Christensen\u2019s theories from<em> How Will Your Measure Your Life?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you find it hard to make decisions? What is the key to making better decisions?&nbsp; Clayton Christensen shows how economic theories can help us with making better decisions in his book How Will You Measure Your Life? Find out why experience isn\u2019t the best guide for your decisions and why you should use theories instead.\u00a0 Keep reading to learn about making better decisions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,7,43],"tags":[411],"class_list":["post-41306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-lifestyle","category-self-improvement","tag-how-will-you-measure-your-life","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Key to Making Better Decisions: Forget Experience - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to find out the key to making better decisions? 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Discover Clayton Christensen\u2019s helpful advice for making better decisions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-08T14:48:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-12T21:28:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/blink-why-we-make-bad-decisions-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"441\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/df3c3c8448816a34bfdc78d7eda164c4\"},\"headline\":\"The Key to Making Better Decisions: Forget Experience\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-08T14:48:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-12T21:28:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/blink-why-we-make-bad-decisions-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"How Will You Measure Your Life?\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economics\",\"Lifestyle\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/\",\"name\":\"The Key to Making Better Decisions: Forget Experience - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/making-better-decisions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/blink-why-we-make-bad-decisions-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-08T14:48:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-12T21:28:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you want to find out the key to making better decisions? 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