Ask a Decision Engineer

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven 

After launching my first pilot season in 2019 right before my baby was born, I'm back at it with new episodes.

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

In this episode, Michelle talks about what a decision is and what it is not, while dispelling some commonly held misconceptions about decisions.Summary:Decisions are actions you take to influence the future.Decisions are not:- just about picking, they are also about process- about what is outside of your control, they are about where you have agency- about the past, they are forward looking- one and done, they occur over time, in sequenceTo learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

In this episode Michelle shares what's at the root of decision paralysis and offers up tips on how to save time and energy in the decision making process Resources mentioned in this episode:Srinivas Rao's Unmistakable Creative TribeThinking Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanThe Paradox of Choice by Barry SchwartzCatching the Next Wave PodcastSummary:- The quality of a decision is separate and distinct from the quality of the outcome- You have two different systems for decision making: System 1 (fast) and System 2 (slow); reserve System 2 for decisions that really warrant it- You have a finite reservoir of energy for System 2. Decision fatigue occurs when you exhaust it.- Even though you've been socialized to want to maximize every decision, the incremental ROI (return on investment) of time and energy isn't always worth it.- Identify which decisions deserve to be processed with System 1, then for others, decide in advance, use rule-based heuristics, or delegate decision making To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

 To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

When facing big decisions, even the smartest people can get tied into knots. But it doesn't have to be that way. Hi, I'm Michelle Florendo. I studied decision engineering at Stanford and over the past 15 years, I've helped hundreds of people navigate complex decisions in their professional and personal lives. In season three of my podcast, Ask a Decision Engineer, we'll be tackling ALL THE FEELS. You know, when you wish you could just make a rational decision, but can't.     The truth is, if you want to feel confident in your decision, don't ignore your emotions. Examine them.This season, I'll teach you about the types of emotions that may arise in decision-making, what to do about them, and how to use them as data so that you can move forward with less stress and more clarity.New episodes drop in mid may. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.

We need to stop thinking that the best decisions are ones made in an emotional vacuum. There's a cost to ignoring how we feel. At best we leave useful data on the table. But at worst, - we waste time beholden to emotions that do have a powerful hold over us- we make decisions that deliver on the opposite of what we actually want- we exhaust ourselves by only using a portion of the brainpower that we could possibly be using.The more we can get curious about what is the feeling that's coming up and what is it telling us about our process, the more useful it can become in moving forward with a good decision.If you have feelings come up, take a step back, not to ignore, but to observe. Take an engineering lens and try to get at what is the data, ask yourself: How can I learn more about these inputs for the decision problem I'm trying to solve? Where's that coming from? Why is this feeling coming up? Is it because there's a particular objective or value that is not being acknowledged? Is it because I feel constrained in my options? Do I have a sense of knowing my intuition and summary of past experiences? Is this a feeling stemming from a discomfort with not knowing? Perhaps it's simply the discomfort of not having reached a resolution yet. To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal Decisions Her Decision Toolkit for Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

If you have already decided what course of action to take, but are having a hard time actually acting on it, explore:what emotions are arising as you think about taking action?where are those emotions coming from?if one of those emotions is fear or dread, what is on the other side of that?if what you fear were to come to fruition, what will you decide to do then?how might you keep the positive benefits of the course of action you chose top of mind?To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit for Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

Today's episode touches on a number of different feelings: the excitement of a new path and the doubts around whether it will pan out the questioning around how much our desires are a result of the culture we've been surrounded by, or if deep down inside, we actually want something else. When we feel like we are swimming in an ocean of thoughts and feelings, it can be extremely useful to get those thoughts down on paper in a structured way. Consider doing a brain dump and categorizing things into the three components, objectives, options, and informationIf you are having a hard time articulating what you want, imagine how you want to feel in the futureA decision matrix can be a useful tool to organize what comes to mind with those three componentsPerhaps try to map out different options and scenarios onto a decision tree so that you can make sure you are exploring all branches, fairlyStructure can help you make better sense of all the inputs you have so that you can see things more clearly.To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check outThe Ask A Decision Engineer websiteHer Stanford Continuing Studies courseHer self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal DecisionsHer Decision Toolkit for Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven