Decisive

How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

By: Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Chip and Dan Heath, the best-selling authors of Switch and Made to Stick, tackle one of the most critical topics in our work and personal lives: how to make better decisions.

Research in psychology has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn’t. We get distracted by short-term emotions. When it comes to making choices, it seems, our brains are flawed instruments. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesn’t fix the problem, any more than knowing that we are nearsighted helps us to see. The real question is: How can we do better?

In Decisive, the Heaths, based on an exhaustive study of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. Written in an engaging and compulsively listenable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.

Along the way, we learn the answers to critical questions such as these: How can we stop the cycle of agonizing over our decisions? How can we make group decisions without destructive politics? And how can we ensure that we don’t overlook precious opportunities to change our course?

Decisive is the Heath brothers’ most powerful - and important - book yet, offering fresh strategies and practical tools enabling us to make better choices. Because the right decision, at the right moment, can make all the difference.

©2013 Chip Heath and Dan Heath (P)2013 Random House Audio

Informative, entertaining, helpful

I listen to this book every time I have to make a big decision. Great tip and helpful strategies to help you feel you covered your grounds for the best outcome. I would recommend it to anyone.

Helps personally and professionally

I've never figured out how people can so cleanly separate the personal and the professional, so this business book really appeals to me because it can benefit both. It's told with lots of examples and in a easily digestible style so that it doesn't come across as either a text book, or in a please-fix-me-I'm-broken way. About two thirds of the way through I stopped and used the technique they had just talked about to apply it to an honest to goodness issue I was having - -and dang it if I don't feel like I've got a good solution in the bag. Definitely worth the credit I spent on it if only for helping to remove one nagging doubt from the sackful of other doubts. The narrator is pleasant and helps to keep the appropriate pace.

Insightful

I have read Daniel Kahnemen's Thinking Fast and Slow, Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, and Nudge. This book is a must read as it takes the science from these behavioral Econs and places it in useable answers that will help improve your decision process.

Good Concepts, But You Have to Wait for It

They didn't explain what their key concept (WRAP) meant. I had to figure it out. I'm not sure I figured it out, though. Their stories are toooooooo loooooong to communicate their concepts. However, their points are worth the wait. Still, this is a very practical book.

A great guide on how to make better choices

The wrap framework introduced gets you passed fruitless discussions about the unknown future and towards a wider firmer view moving forward

The key message in this book:

When you make a decision, follow the WRAP-process: Widen your Options, Reality-test your assumptions, Attain distance before deciding, and Prepare to be wrong.

Actionable ideas from the book:

Set a concrete time

Next time you want to exercise, clear a specific time slot in your organizer for it. This will make you aware of your priorities (exercise) and ensure that it doesn’t fall prey to something more urgent (e.g., doing the dishes).

Find the alternatives

If you are wondering whether you should go to a party or not, come up with at least two alternatives, e.g., not go to the party and watch a movie, or go to bed early and go running the next morning. This way you can estimate more truthfully what other options you have. 

@nuelbnoza

Practical wisdom backed by sound research

Where does Decisive rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 5

What other book might you compare Decisive to and why?

Contagious by Jonathan Berger
Give and Take by Adam Grant
Switch by Chip and Dan Heath
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Any additional comments?

Wonderful framework to ensure that you don't get trapped in making decisions.
Practical and empirically sound advice.

Useful Reading

I would recommend this book to anyone faced with a tough decision. I liked the acronyms, and the clarity of communication.

I use this framework

What made the experience of listening to Decisive the most enjoyable?

It is practical. I consider waste of time to listen to unpractical things

What did you like best about this story?

It shows al flaws in out decision making and clear step by step process. Good examples are also there.

Opened my eyes!

The authors had me after the first scenario! Just as they said would happen, I was SURE what decision should be made, but I hadn't even considered creating other options than the two that had been suggested. This book has opened my eyes to a spectrum of decision-making ideas that never occurred to me before. I highly recommend it!