Deciding Consciously (2/3)

Last time I shared about using stillness and movement to get into a receptive mental state when facing hard decisions. Getting into a place where creative energy can flow freely, sometimes solutions pop up, seemingly out of nowhere. However, when the quiet mind encounters the need for more reflection, the next set of tools I love involves values, and a highly underrated project management tool.

Practice 2: Clarify what’s truly important

One of my favorite principles from the Agile Manifesto: Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential. To me, this reads as expert-endorsed laziness and reminds me to always look for opportunities to stop (or not start) work. In this way, each of these practices may create clarity, rendering the next steps irrelevant. Or there may still be value in taking the whole journey. Either is ok. 

Exercise 1:

1. I’ve time-traveled five years into the future, and I’m looking back on this decision.

2. How important was the outcome of this decision five years ago? Do I still care?

3. Does five-year future me have another perspective on the solution? 

4. Repeat steps 1-3 imagining five months in the future, then five weeks

5. How large does it feel when considered through these lenses?

This exercise has pulled me out of a spin twice this year that I can think of. Both felt like bold decisions, but when I consulted “future me,” what he wanted for “then-me” was to swing big and know it would be ok. And it was.

Sometimes you still need more, and this is where the beautiful confluence of coaching and project management comes in for me. If you’ve heard of a decision matrix before, this may be a different take. You can do the following exercise on a sheet of paper or in your favorite spreadsheet program. 

Exercise 2:

1. What is important to you about the decision? List values with the most important on top (e.g., price, gas mileage, color, size)

2. Along the top row, list the options (A, B, C, yes/no/not yet, etc.)

3. For each option, go through the values and rate how aligned the choice is with that value where 1 is no alignment and 10 is perfect alignment

4. Total the scores at the bottom (see example)

What is standing out to you now? 

Is there a clear winner with a top score that you agree with? Yay, DONE! 

Is something not sitting right with the numbers? Also yay! There is valuable information in that. You could try adjusting your values with weights (search “decision matrix” on the web for more info). You could also spend a moment reflecting on what your instincts are seeing differently from your rational brain. That said if you’ve spent a lot of time on it, and your best numbers analysis is showing a winner that doesn’t feel right, or you’re still feeling stuck, tune in next time for my third favorite practice: honor the risks.