There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.
– Thomas Sowell
What questions do we ask ourselves when we make decisions? Especially the important ones, whether the decision revolves around personal life, business, or another venture.
As I continue to grow in my career, I've noticed that my focus on understanding my personal decision-making process has dramatically increased. How exactly do I make decisions? How do I weigh the different tradeoffs? What questions do I ask myself and the team throughout the decision-making process?
This week, I was introduced to a question that I'm adding to the decision-making process.
"Which problem set would I prefer to have?"
If there are two or more potential pathways forward, take the time to list out the problems, issues, and challenges that will come with each. Then, evaluate which problem set you and your team are best capable of tackling, or the problem set that you prefer to have.
On top of giving you clearer visibility into the paths the decisions will take you, this question also can help dial down the potential regret from the decision down the road. Because when we're 1 month down the road, and we're dealing with the challenges that our chosen solution comes with, we won't as easily look back and think, "Man, we should've gone with the other solution." We'll remember the problem set that would have come with that other solution because we took the time to ponder them and write them down. And we'll remember that despite the difficulty we're currently facing, it's still our preferred problem set.