Appendix B. Additional Tips on Reducing Decision Complexity

 

Simplicity is an acquired taste. Mankind, left free, instinctively complicates life.

 
 --Katharine Fullerton Gerould[1]

Complex decisions are multilayered. Decision makers are usually unaware of this fact and attempt to solve all the layers at the same time, thus increasing the difficulty of the decision. By finding a way to “peel” off decision layers and focus on each layer separately, the decision complexity can be dramatically reduced. I call this decision de-layering.

By identifying a decision layer, you can zoom in on a particular aspect of the decision, consider it with its own constraints and solution options, and then zoom out to the higher level with useful observations about the ...

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