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Making Yes or No Decisions

Making Good Decisions - Yes or No? (Should I - Should I Not?)

Yes or No Decisions

To make a correct decision, follow these simple steps:


First rule. Make the decision!
Don't procrastinate unnecessarily.

Write out the decision you need to make in the form of a Yes/No question.

For example:
Should I buy a dog? Yes or No?
Should I move to Australia? Yes or No?
Should I employ a new receptionist? Yes or No?

What are you making a decision about?

Enter all the reasons in favour of your decision - a yes vote.
Think about all the reasonable arguments that are in favour of a YES vote.

Now, take the opposite view and list all the reasons for voting against the decision - all the reasons for voting no.
Be methodical and put your mind totally on the task of finding all the reasons for voting no.
When you have finished, have a short mental break.

Your question: Should I do [X]?

Enter a positive reason:

Enter a negative reason:

Positive Reasons:

Negative Reasons:

  • Nothing yet!

When you've thought of all the reasons, press:

Next Step > Next Step >

You now need to rank (or weight) each reason in turn out of 100, according to how important you believe each reason to be.
In this case, 100 means very important, 0 is hardly worth mentioning.
The point is to give each reason a numerical score, out of 100.

Now repeat the process for all the reasons against.
Score each reason to give it a level of importance: 100 is maximum, 0 is minimum.
Your task is to quantify the reasons and attach a numerical value to each reason, one at a time.

Your question: Should I do [X]?

Rank the following reason out of 100: Reason Name
Drag the slider to the correct value (or tap on a mobile device).

Based on the evidence given, the answer to your question:
I should do [X]?
Has been calculated (by your weightings) as ???.

Here's how it's worked out:

    Should I do X?
    ???
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      You may benefit from attending our time management course.

      Need to decide about something else?

      Are you making a different type of decision? We have other decision making apps available for you to use - find out more here.

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      Customer Reviews

      Here are a selection of reviews for our training courses.

      • The course content was very thorough and extremely useful. It made me think a lot more on how I can manage/lead my team better. The course handbook was great and very useful to take away, I will definitely revisit. The trainer's presentation was very clear and well presented. He kept interest throughout and the two days went quickly.

      • I found the Wrong Box / Right Box tool and the delegation part of the course really interesting. It’s given me a great base for my new managers role. Chris (the trainer) is amazing. He is really enthusiastic and engaging and I have enjoyed his training. Thanks Chris !!

      • Excellent training course. I feel very secure (and excited) to start using certain models in my practice, including the priority decision matrix and the wrong box/right box method. The trainer was equally excellent. By using 'real life' examples he helped me contextualise the models. As well as giving me the confidence to start better prioritising my work and others in my team.

      • Very informative and constructive, carefully planned out presentations. Well timed breaks and a very clear message and objective for each subject. I especially found the time management and planning very beneficial, as well as the SMART and wrong box/right box techniques. This course has not only benefited me as a manager, but also helped me improve as a person. Alison was a very knowledgeable and informative presenter, clearly understanding each members need to be there. An absolute credit to her profession.

      • I found the course to be excellent and have been provided with some very useful tools that I will be able to use in both my professional and personal life. The trainer's presentation was very good

      • The course contained some very interesting concepts, of which I can apply immediately to my role and that of my team. A lot of information in the two days so I will definitely review the handbook to ensure I put as much into practice as possible. Chris was extremely engaging and knowledgeable, his style and humour made the delivery interesting with some excellent examples of methods in practice.