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Nancy HoSun Mar 16 2025

Decision making is an essential skill that plays a significant role in shaping both our personal and professional lives. Whether you’re deciding on your next career move, navigating a business strategy, or handling day-to-day decisions, the ability to make the right choices has far-reaching consequences. Unfortunately, many people struggle with decision making due to factors like analysis paralysis, impulsive decisions, or regret.

In this guide, we’ll break down the decision-making process and introduce you to three powerful approaches—Thinking First, Seeing First, and Doing First—that can help you navigate even the most complex choices. By understanding these approaches and applying a structured decision-making framework, you’ll unlock your potential to make smarter, more confident decisions that drive success in both your career and personal life.

The Three Core Approaches to Decision Making

Making effective decisions isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. The way you approach decision making depends largely on the situation at hand, your goals, and your decision-making style. Let’s dive into the three main approaches to decision making: Thinking First, Seeing First, and Doing First.

1. Thinking First: The Logical Approach

The Thinking First approach is grounded in logic, analysis, and strategic reasoning. When you adopt this approach, you prioritize data and facts over emotions or instincts. It’s an excellent method for complex decisions that involve long-term outcomes or financial implications.

This approach is ideal when you're faced with decisions that require careful calculation and planning. It allows you to minimize risk by thoroughly evaluating all available information and thinking through the consequences before acting.

2. Seeing First: The Intuitive Approach

Unlike the logical approach, the Seeing First approach relies on your intuition, gut feelings, and emotional insights. This method is often used for quick decisions or when there’s insufficient time for in-depth analysis. It involves trusting your instincts and experience to make choices in the moment.

While this approach may lack the rigorous analysis of the Thinking First method, it’s incredibly powerful for decisions that need to be made quickly or when there’s no clear "right" answer. By relying on your emotional intelligence and subconscious patterns, you can tap into creative and intuitive solutions that might otherwise be overlooked.

3. Doing First: The Experimental Approach

The Doing First approach is all about taking action. Rather than analyzing or waiting for the perfect conditions, this approach involves testing decisions with small, low-risk actions. You experiment, gather feedback, and refine your approach based on the results. This hands-on method can help you learn through trial and error.

When dealing with uncertainty or rapid changes, Doing First allows you to take incremental steps toward a decision. This is especially useful in fast-moving industries or when you’re venturing into uncharted territory. It’s a great way to gather real-world feedback before committing to a larger-scale decision.

The Seven-Step Decision-Making Process

Making better decisions doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By following a structured process, you can break down complex choices into manageable steps. Here’s a proven Seven-Step Decision Making Process inspired by best practices from companies like Atlassian:

  1. Identify the Decision: Clearly define the problem or choice that needs to be made. This helps narrow your focus and prevents decision fatigue.
  2. Gather Information: Collect relevant data and information that will help you make an informed choice.
  3. Identify Alternatives: Consider multiple options and brainstorm different solutions. This step opens your mind to various possibilities.
  4. Consider the Evidence: Evaluate the pros and cons of each option using methods like SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
  5. Choose Among Alternatives: Make the decision based on your gathered information, weighing both logic and intuition.
  6. Take Action: Implement the decision with a clear action plan, setting measurable goals and deadlines.
  7. Review Your Decision: After the decision is made, assess the outcomes and learn from them to improve your future decision-making process.

By following these seven steps, you transform decision making from a stressful, uncertain process into a clear, structured approach. This not only reduces anxiety but also increases the likelihood of making better decisions that align with your goals.

Avoiding Common Decision-Making Mistakes

Despite our best efforts, it’s easy to fall into common traps when making decisions. Let’s explore some of the most frequent mistakes and how you can avoid them:

By recognizing and avoiding these common mistakes, you can improve your decision-making ability and increase the chances of achieving successful outcomes.

Practical Tools to Improve Decision Making

To enhance your decision-making skills, consider using these powerful tools and techniques:

By incorporating these tools into your decision-making routine, you can make more informed, thoughtful choices, ultimately leading to better outcomes.

How Decision Making Impacts Leadership & Career Growth

In leadership roles, effective decision-making is critical. Whether you're a CEO, manager, or team leader, your ability to make smart, timely decisions will determine your success. Great leaders are often recognized for their decision-making skills because they know how to balance logic, intuition, and action.

As you grow in your career, your ability to make sound decisions will shape your reputation, influence, and ability to drive success within your organization.

Break Through with Nancy Ho

Mastering decision making is a game-changer, both in your personal life and your career. By learning how to think strategically, trust your instincts, and take action, you’ll unlock the power to make better decisions and achieve greater success.

Struggling with decision-making? Nancy Ho specializes in strategic long-term planning, leadership empowerment, and work-life balance. Take control of your decisions today. Book a 1-on-1 consultation with Nancy Ho to unlock your full potential. ➡ Book an Appointment Now!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is decision making?

Decision making is the process of selecting the best option from a range of alternatives based on careful thought, logic, and sometimes intuition.

Q2. How can decision making improve my career?

Effective decision making helps you make smarter choices that align with your career goals, leading to greater success, promotions, and growth opportunities.

Q3. Which decision-making approach is best?

The best approach depends on the situation. Use Thinking First for complex decisions, Seeing First for quick decisions, and Doing First when testing ideas in real time.

Q4. How do I avoid decision fatigue?

Limit your choices, take breaks when needed, and focus on making decisions that matter most to reduce the overwhelm caused by too many options.

Q5. Can decision-making tools help in real life?

Yes! Tools like SWOT analysis, mental models, and decision journals can provide structured methods to guide your decision-making and improve outcomes.

Q6. What are cognitive biases?

Cognitive biases are patterns of thinking that can lead to errors in judgment, such as confirmation bias or the tendency to follow the group’s opinion.

Q7. How do leaders make decisions?

Leaders balance logic, intuition, and experience to make decisions that align with the organization’s goals and vision.

Q8. What is the first step in decision-making?

The first step is to clearly define the decision at hand. By understanding the problem, you can focus on finding the best solution.

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