SMART CHOICES by John Hammond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

SMART CHOICES by John Hammond - Essay Example He lives in Belmont, Massachusetts and is extensively popular as one of the initiators of the decision sciences field. In this book â€Å"smart choices† from the three leading consultants on decision-making, readers get to understand how to approach each and every type of decisions with a set of elementary skills developed by professors from the University of Southern California, MIT and Harvard. In Smart Choices, the authors offer a systematic approach to making the correct choices. They guide people how to be confident and consistent to decisions they make. For example, choosing which job offer to accept, selecting a fantastic book to read to buying the right vehicle. This user-friendly guide demonstrates to readers how to create a complete set of alternatives, assess deep-seated objectives, grapple with uncertainty, determine likely consequences, and make tradeoffs. Not only will the readers understand how to make good decisions, they will understand and learn how to come u p with smartest decisions. For any individual caught at a confusing situation, the Smart Choices program improves abilities of decision-making and makes one’s life more fulfilling and rewarding. The three authors claim that making smart choices is an essential life skill, which can be trained. They provide a realistic model for making decisions, and show that it is applicable in both business and personal situations. They demonstrate that the solution is to break down the decision into its individual essentials, identifying those that are most significant, and analyzing potential outcomes. These authors also argue that decisions should be made before turning into problems. Their so-called PROACT (Problem, Objectives, Alternatives, Consequences and Trade-offs) approach can be broken down precisely. I.e. Identifying the Problem, specifying the Objectives, creating Alternatives, understanding the Consequences, and weighing the Trade-offs. By following these crucial steps, an ind ividual must shed light on uncertainty, evaluate risks, and be sentient of what other alternatives a decision might produce. Smart Choices summarizes eight useful elements in making the correct decision, from identifying what exactly the decision is and identifying the objectives to considering risk, tolerance and also looking at what one decides on today influences what he/she may decide in the days to come. The book is complete with real-life situations that effectively demonstrate each element of an excellent decision. The general idea of Smart Choices is that excellent decision making comes about through scrupulous planning and thoughtfulness. In chapter one of this book from the three leading professors on decision making, some decisions are fairly obvious. For example, will you step in for your employer for two weeks while he/she attends an educational development course? Definitely it is yes, or one’s bank account is running low, but he/she has a three-week break comin g up and wants to get away to somewhere warm to relax with his/her family. Some of the essential decisions one faces in life are complex and tough, with no obvious or easy solutions, which will not probably affect an individual alone, but also affect his/her family, friends, coworkers and several others both known and unknown. Coming up with compelling decisions is therefore, one of the most significant determinants of how smart someone meets his/her responsibilities and achieve professional and