I first encountered Chip and Dan Heath’s writings when I listened to the audio book of Made to Stick several years ago. I was fascinated by their insights regarding influence and persuasiveness summarized by the SUCCES acronym: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories.

The Heath brothers also authored Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work in which they lay out four principles with the WRAP acronym for avoiding pitfalls in decision making:

1. Widen your options. This helps avoid the pitfall of “narrow framing.” It is all too easy to engage in the fallacy of “either/or” rather than recognizing a variety of potential approaches. Usually there are more than one or two choices. Rather than framing a decision as yes or no, either/or, consider small experiments and in-between steps to open a range of options. This reminds us of the insight from Getting to Yes regarding creatively inventing options that can satisfy all parties in a negotiation. Also, creativity and options can give you walkaway power to help you avoid bad situations and ripoffs.
2. Reality test your assumptions. This helps to avoid the pitfall of “confirmation bias.” Rather than only seeking information that serves your preconceived notions, step back for a dose of reality. Make sure that you consider various scenarios, pros and cons, and sources of evidence. Even (and especially) if the evidence points away from your initial assumptions and inclinations, carefully evaluate and revisit your decision process.
3. Attain some distance. Don’t let irrational feelings and short-term thinking lead you toward a wrong decision. You have to know yourself and understand your tendencies and weaknesses. Perhaps you are impulsive. On the opposite end of the spectrum, perhaps you suffer from fear or analysis paralysis. The Heath brothers recommend stepping back and asking yourself, “What would I tell my best friend to do in this situation?” I like to seek out counsel from others who are more experienced, or if I don’t have that luxury for some reason, I try to analyze what advice a “wise” person might give me.
4. Prepare to be wrong. This helps to avoid the mental and emotional pitfall of overconfidence. Sure, we all want to be right. We want to “believe in ourselves.” However, if we’re honest, we have to admit that our decisions don’t always turn out like we were expecting. The authors suggest developing a “tripwire” that would trigger the decision-maker to reassess the decision and make appropriate adjustments. Actively evaluate decisions, make changes, and learn from mistakes.

Decision making can stretch us to our mental and emotional limits at times, but understanding the pitfalls and applying the Heath’s sound advice can make the process more smooth and enjoyable.