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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 content of the course was very good with lots of thought-provoking topics, eg use of words, dealing with conflict, planning and prioritising. There was lots of material to cover but the trainer covered it at a good speed with lots of small sessions of thinking time. Writing our own action plan was a great idea as much more likely to focus on what is important to us.

      • Very good and informative course, with the right amount of time allocated. It provided useful insights and ideas to apply in my job and helped me analyse ways to move forward in various situations. Great presentation, effectively using visuals with flipcharts to facilitate conversations and ideas. It was helpful to have a detailed workbook to take away, as well as to add to during the two days.

      • The course content was excellent and pitched at the right level. I liked that it wasn't 'fluffy'. Perfect level of real life examples to put the content into context. I loved how the trainer presented the course; the clear diagrams and pics made the content easier to remember. I thought the straight-forward, no-nonsense, delivery was spot on.

      • I have learnt how to organise my work list in a way that is constructive and productive. To focus on the use of objective language. I found the section on conflict resolution very helpful. The 8 Smart plan and success formula is something I look forward to implementing. The trainer executed the presentation with excellence. His knowledge on the subject and obvious passion filtered through and I was hooked from day one. I cannot praise him enough! Thank you

      • I felt a bit ambivalent about attending this course, but found myself enjoying a most varied, interesting, stimulating and rewarding day. Trainers presentation was excellent. He was confident, knowledgeable, competent, well organised, the presentation and book very well sewn together.

      • Very interesting and inspiring. I found understanding how to identify cynic and critic and how to transform conversations and how to keep self positive, most beneficial. The course was very beneficial and will stick in my mind. The trainer was very confident and the day had the right amount of facts, mixed with humour.