Decide & Conquer: Make Winning Decisions and Take Control of Your Life

19

Four

Chapter

1

What’s Your Decision

Style?

Listed below are statements describing how individuals go about making

important decisions. Please indicate whether you agree of disagree with

each statement.

1

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Neither

Agree or

Disagree Agree

Strongly

Agree

1. When making

decisions, I rely upon

my instincts.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

2. I double-check my

information sources to

be sure I have the right

facts before making a

decision.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

3. When I make a

decision, I trust my

inner feelings and

reactions.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

4. I make decisions in a

logical and systematic

way.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

DECIDE & CONQUER

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How to Score

For the four odd-numbered questions (1,3,5,7), give yourself 1 point for

each Strongly Disagree answer, 2 points for Disagree, 3 points for Neither

Agree or Disagree, 4 points for Agree, and 5 points for Strongly Agree.

Add up your score. Now do the same for the even-numbered questions.

Your total for the odd-numbered items represents your Intuitive score.

Your total for the even-numbered items represents your Rational score.

5. I generally make

decisions that feel right

to me.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

6. My decision making

requires careful

thought.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

7. When I make a

decision, it is more

important for me to feel

the decision is right than

to have a rational

reason for it

.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

8. When making a

decision, I consider

various options in terms

of a specific goal.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

Strongly

Disagree Disagree

Neither

Agree or

Disagree Agree

Strongly

Agree

DECIDE & CONQUER

21

What Your Score Means

Your scores for each style will range between 4 and 20. The style with the

higher score indicates your preferred style, but also note the difference

between the two scores. The greater the difference, the stronger your

preferred style is in shaping how you approach decision making. If both

scores are fairly close or if your scores tend to congregate around the

midpoint (this would include scores of between 10 and 14), you’re more

flexible in how you approach decisions and may be more sensitive to

seeing how differences in situations affect the choice of your decision

style.

Understanding Decision-Making Style

Decision-making style refers to the habitual patterns we tend to fall back

on when faced with a decision situation. Although there are a number of

different ways to classify decision styles, almost all include a deliberate and

logical approach (which we call rational, but which is also referred to as a

thinking style) and an intuitive approach that relies on hunches and gut

feelings (often called a feeling style).

2

Your decision-making style is particularly relevant in determining how you

gather information. Rational types emphasize facts, details, and rational

cause-effect logic. They weigh evidence objectively and unemotionally.

Well-known rationals would include Albert Einstein, Ayn Rand, and Bill

Gates. Intuitive types focus on possibilities and relationships between

ideas. They weigh options against their personal values more than rational

logic. Well-known intuitives include Albert Schweitzer, Mikhail

Gorbachev, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

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