The hottest Decision-making Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

The 7 reasons why I say No to founders reaching out to us for funding.

Venture Prose • 0 implied HN points • 27 Feb 16
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Saying no to founders seeking funding is necessary but not enjoyable to do.
  2. Reasons for rejection include personal fit, belief in the team, understanding of subject/geography, liking the space/activity, alignment with criteria, and doubts about certain aspects.
  3. Investing in startups is a people business full of unpredictability, and success is often only visible in hindsight.

The ultimate guide to choosing your

Austin's Analects • 0 implied HN points • 06 Aug 20
🚌 Education Decision-making
  1. Networking is the best way to learn about specific careers, companies, or jobs.
  2. Struggles with career paths usually involve either deciding between options or finding options that match skill sets and interests.
  3. When deciding between career paths, talk to people in those fields, ask questions, make pros-cons lists, and then choose a path.

Decision Making 101

Austin's Analects • 0 implied HN points • 12 Nov 18
🏥 Health & Wellness Decision-making
  1. When making decisions, there isn't always a clear right answer. The 'right' decision can bring both comfort and discomfort, prevent and provoke conflict, and make you happy and sad.
  2. To make decisions effectively, analyze your options, consider the pros and cons of each solution, and then decide. Trust your intuition, make your choice, and move forward.
  3. After making a decision, write it down and justify your choice to yourself. Avoid dwelling on the decision and focus on dealing with the outcomes as they arise.

"Here's a Different Idea"

The Radar • 0 implied HN points • 02 Sep 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Agency is powerful - When people have ownership in decisions, they are more motivated to prove them right.
  2. Persuasion is effective - Giving individuals a choice empowers them, leading to better outcomes and increased effort.
  3. Data-driven decisions - Using data and evidence in leadership makes decisions more rational and invites respect, fostering loyalty and team camaraderie.

Scrub These Three Words From Your Hiring Process

The Radar • 0 implied HN points • 02 Sep 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Diversity is vital for effective teams, using 'fit' as a hiring criteria can limit diverse perspectives and lead to an insular team.
  2. The concept of 'fit' is vague and can lead to biases and arbitrary decisions, interviewers may struggle to define what 'fit' really means.
  3. Seeking 'fit' can encourage dishonesty in candidates who try to match what they think the hiring process wants, leading to a lack of authenticity in hires and erosion of organizational integrity.
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The Devil You Know is Better Than the Angel You Don't

Metarational • 0 implied HN points • 05 Jun 21
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Predictability is crucial in social interactions - knowing the devil you know can be better than the angel you don't.
  2. Having a history or personal connection with someone can lead to profitable collaborations, even if they are generally inferior.
  3. Social and cultural structures that enhance predictability can create more scenarios for successful collaborations, even if they are arbitrary.

Follow your gut ?

Eddie's startup voyage • 0 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. Consider balancing rational thinking with gut instinct in decision-making, especially in situations with limited data or inconclusive information.
  2. Use mental models like Jeff Bezos' 1-way vs 2-way door decisions to navigate choices. For irreversible decisions, follow your gut if it strongly signals a direction; for reversible decisions, consider both rational and instinctive inputs.
  3. Understand the interplay between Daniel Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 thinking in decision-making, and learn to appropriately calibrate analytical and intuitive processes to make better choices.

When to quit?

Eddie's startup voyage • 0 implied HN points • 24 Jun 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Reflect on business growth and success to know when to consider quitting or pivoting.
  2. Consider the impact of team changes, like a co-founder leaving, on the future of the startup.
  3. Evaluate the financial aspects, like high cloud costs, and the opportunity cost of continuing with a stagnating startup.

Learning to ask better questions when talking to users

Eddie's startup voyage • 0 implied HN points • 22 Apr 22
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Asking better questions in user interviews is crucial for uncovering deeper insights and making informed decisions.
  2. Avoid closed and hypothetical questions that lead to yes/no answers or opinions based on unfamiliar situations.
  3. Using discussion guides in user interviews can significantly enhance the quality of insights obtained and improve problem discovery and decision-making processes.

Part 4: Ways to reduce noise when assessing school shooting threats

School Shooting Data Analysis and Reports • 0 implied HN points • 16 May 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Decision-making
  1. Having groups assess school shooting threats leads to more consistent and accurate judgments by reducing individual variability.
  2. Utilizing the wisdom of crowds, where multiple assessments are averaged, can help in decision-making and improve accuracy, especially in critical situations like school shooting threats.
  3. Implementing algorithms for threat assessment, alongside human judgement, can standardize evaluations, reduce bias, and potentially enhance decision-making processes in school safety.

Organisation charts and what they don’t tell us

The Jolly Contrarian • 0 implied HN points • 28 Oct 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Organisation charts often do not reveal the actual functioning and dynamics within an organization, focusing more on formal structure than substance.
  2. Formal communication channels, like reporting lines, do not necessarily represent how work truly gets done in an organization; informal communications and interactions are crucial for progress.
  3. Management should trust and empower subject matter experts by minimizing formal impediments and recognizing the importance of informal networks and interactions within the organization.

Luyện đá

Thái | Hacker | Kỹ sư tin tặc • 0 implied HN points • 09 Jul 12
🚌 Education Decision-making
  1. Focus on mastering one skill rather than trying to learn many different ones.
  2. It's okay to change paths and explore different interests until you find what truly excites you.
  3. Choose a kick to practice and if you don't enjoy it, try a different one. It's about finding what you love.

Hard Conway's Law

Space chimp life • 0 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Organizations reflect their communication styles in the code they produce. This means that how teams talk and work together can directly affect the quality and structure of their software.
  2. Business logic is crucial for both organizations and their code. It acts like a backbone that guides decisions and processes, similar to DNA in living organisms.
  3. We can improve how our institutions work by better understanding and reshaping this business logic. By combining manual processes with systematic coding, we can create more effective and responsive organizations.

How to keep humans in the loop

Space chimp life • 0 implied HN points • 10 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Decision-making
  1. We need better ways to share information and opinions in our decision-making systems. Right now, it's hard for people to feel heard or to make changes in our society.
  2. Human systems often operate between humans making decisions and automated processes. Finding a balance could help us use both human creativity and the efficiency of automation.
  3. Creating a platform for people to propose and vote on ideas could improve cooperation and decision-making at all levels. This would help people work together better, whether in families, friends, or communities.

What are your decision-making rules?

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 0 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Focusing on customers is key for making good decisions. When you think about what the customers want, it helps guide your choices.
  2. Long-term goals should come before short-term profits. Investing for the future can create more success than chasing quick wins.
  3. Measuring the impact of your choices is important. Knowing what works and what doesn’t helps you improve your decision-making.

Interested in Making Dramatically Better Strategic Decisions?

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 0 implied HN points • 29 Nov 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Making better strategic decisions can help leaders and executives drive growth in their organizations.
  2. Each week, you can receive three new ideas from different industries to help approach tough decisions with more confidence.
  3. Subscribing gets you valuable insights, audio content, and a supportive community for sharing ideas and learning.

The one attribute that makes a decision strategic

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 0 implied HN points • 17 Oct 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Strategic decisions set boundaries that influence future choices. Once you make a decision, it limits what you can do next.
  2. Cities like Miami show how infrastructure can force people into particular behaviors, such as driving instead of walking. This lack of options highlights how decisions create constraints.
  3. Understanding the constraints created by choices can help you navigate decision-making better. It’s important to consider how one decision impacts future opportunities.

What happens if you succeed at the wrong thing? [Growth Needle™]

Ruben Ugarte's Growth Needle™ • 0 implied HN points • 05 Sep 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Succeeding at something that doesn't matter can feel empty. It's important to focus on what really drives growth and progress.
  2. Sometimes, the wrong decisions can benefit the wrong people. Relying on unclear decision-making can lead to unexpected consequences.
  3. Just because a successful method worked once, doesn't mean it will always work. The landscape changes and adaptability is key to ongoing success.

Don’t try to optimise life decisions

Tecnica • 0 implied HN points • 28 Jul 24
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. Life decisions can be unpredictable, and overthinking them isn't always helpful. Sometimes, a seemingly small choice can lead to big changes.
  2. We often need to balance enjoying the present and thinking about the future when making decisions. It's a choice between being happy now or planning for what's ahead.
  3. Accept that life is a chaotic system, and not every decision will turn out the way you expect. It's okay to embrace the uncertainty instead of trying to control everything.

6 Leadership Principles for New Mangers

Better Engineers • 0 implied HN points • 02 Sep 22
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Leaders need to focus on communication to foster positive change in their teams. The right words can motivate and engage everyone more effectively.
  2. Mistakes should be seen as learning opportunities instead of failures. When team members feel safe to make mistakes, it encourages creativity and innovation.
  3. Good leaders should encourage team input and not just impose their ideas. This helps everyone feel valued and helps develop new leaders.

Rules

Splattern • 0 implied HN points • 01 Aug 21
🎭️ Culture Decision-making
  1. Rules can create freedom by providing structure in life. They allow people to focus on what matters and enjoy life more fully.
  2. Understanding that knowledge is always evolving can help us grow. We shouldn't rely on authority but be open to changing our ideas as we learn more.
  3. The key to making decisions is being able to explain your reasoning. It's more important to consider your choices and share your thoughts than to follow strict rules.

It doesn't matter. But in what way?

Matt’s Five Points • 0 implied HN points • 21 Oct 11
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Decision-making
  1. Not everything in politics affects the outcome. Some things, like debates or running mate choices, seem important but often don’t really change what happens.
  2. There are different reasons why something might not matter. Sometimes it’s because there’s no clear advantage to choosing one option over another.
  3. Campaigns tend to be cautious because avoiding mistakes is a smart strategy. They focus on minimizing errors to protect against losing advantages they don’t even have.

Challenging

Matt’s Five Points • 0 implied HN points • 01 Nov 10
🎾 Sports Decision-making
  1. When teams challenge a play, they should think about the overall benefit, not just how often they win the challenge. Winning a challenge on a low-impact play might not be worth it.
  2. Coaches need to balance the probability of winning a challenge with the potential impact it could have on the game's outcome. Some situations are more valuable than others.
  3. Announcers often praise easy challenges without considering the bigger picture. Not all successful challenges actually help the team in a meaningful way.

Financial Management: Final Thoughts

Logos • 0 implied HN points • 22 Aug 20
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Understanding how to grow revenue by adjusting volume, price, or mix is important in any industry. This principle can apply to companies from tech giants like Google to service providers.
  2. It’s crucial for managers to set prices based on the relationship between marginal revenue and cost. This can lead to better profit margins, and companies should explore creative pricing tactics.
  3. Many financial processes should be automated, but employees often don’t push for it due to inertia or lack of skills. To improve efficiency, companies need to encourage streamlining operations and invest in good data.

Loosing focus in decision-making

do clouds feel vertigo? • 0 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. Focusing on too many tasks at once can lead to a lack of quality decisions. It's important to realize that deep focus is rare and valuable.
  2. Not all decisions are equally important. Some choices can be made quickly and changed later, while others require careful thought before proceeding.
  3. Using curated lists can help simplify decision-making. They reduce complexity and make it easier to choose among options without feeling overwhelmed.

Myth 4.4: The D(discount) rate is a receptacle for your hopes and fears

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 04 Nov 16
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. The discount rate in cash flow valuation shouldn't be used to reflect personal hopes or fears. It's meant to account for business risks, not management quality or competitive advantages.
  2. Risks like nationalization or distress risks are better handled with decision trees or other tools instead of altering the discount rate. This helps provide a clearer picture of an asset's value.
  3. Using a margin of safety or doing more homework won't eliminate risk in valuations. It's important to recognize that some risks are inherent and cannot be fully mitigated.

The Yankees' A Rod Problem: Sunk costs and investing

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 27 Oct 12
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Sunk costs shouldn't affect current decisions. If you've already spent money, it shouldn't make you invest more if it's no longer worth it.
  2. Investors tend to hold on to losing stocks longer than they should. This can cause frustration and loss of potential gains.
  3. Regularly reviewing your investments can help you avoid emotional decision-making. Treating your portfolio like a new investment each year can keep it healthy.

How do you evaluate risk taking?

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 19 Nov 10
💰 Finance Decision-making
  1. Risk taking should be judged not just by the outcome but also by the process and information available at the time. Good decisions can sometimes lead to bad outcomes, and bad decisions can lead to success.
  2. It's important to consider the side effects of risk taking, like how it impacts others. A decision might be profitable for one person but harmful to society as a whole.
  3. How we reward or punish risk taking now can influence future behavior. If taking risks is consistently rewarded, more people will take risks in the future.

Behavioral Corporate Finance 1: The Objective in Decision Making:

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 19 Jul 09
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Every business should have a clear goal for decision making. Traditionally, that goal is to make the company as valuable as possible, often by focusing on boosting stock prices.
  2. Behavioral finance points out that investors can act irrationally, which means stock prices might not always reflect a company's true value. Managers should be cautious about making decisions solely based on stock price reactions.
  3. It's essential for managers to aim for long-term value but also pay attention to market feedback. They can adjust their decisions to better connect with investors while still working towards the company's overall success.

Influence

Books Unbound • 0 implied HN points • 28 Jul 24
🚌 Education Decision-making
  1. Reciprocation means that when someone does something nice for us, we feel we should return the favor. It's a strong part of how people connect and work together in cultures around the world.
  2. Social proof is when we look at what others do to decide how to act. If we see people similar to us doing something, we're more likely to follow their lead.
  3. Scarcity makes things seem more valuable, like when we think a product is better because it's limited in stock. This fear of missing out can push us to make quicker decisions, especially in buying situations.

Are more flexible resources always better? A case for rigid resource allocation.

Entraigues • 0 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Flexible resources can be used for many purposes, like money and skilled workers. Inflexible resources have limited uses, but they can sometimes be more helpful, depending on the situation.
  2. In some cases, like memberships or all-inclusive resorts, inflexible resources encourage people to use them more, even if it costs more upfront.
  3. Having specialized teams or resources in a workplace can be better for long-term goals, even if it seems less efficient in the short run. This can improve overall quality and satisfaction.

Strategies for different uncertainties

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 0 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Organizations struggle to handle uncertainty despite it being crucial for success. They need clear ways to think and act when facing unknowns.
  2. Even those who understand uncertainty need tools to persuade others in their organization to engage with it effectively.
  3. Different types of not-knowing exist, and recognizing these differences helps organizations make better decisions and adapt more easily.

#34: The difficulties of not-knowing

The Uncertainty Mindset (soon to become tbd) • 0 implied HN points • 24 Jun 20
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. Innovation is often uncertain, and traditional management methods may not work well for it. Organizations need to adapt their approach to hiring and goal-setting when they don't know what their end goals are.
  2. There are different mindsets that organizations can have. An 'uncertainty mindset' helps teams navigate unknown futures better than a 'risk mindset', which assumes the future can be predicted.
  3. The current global situation highlights the need for understanding and accepting uncertainty. Recognizing that we don't have all the answers can help organizations adjust their strategies more effectively.

Data is a Road Trip...

CAUSL Effect • 0 implied HN points • 29 Apr 24
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Data should be seen as a journey, not just a goal to reach. This way, people can focus on enjoying and learning along the way.
  2. Instead of stressing about a final deadline, it's better to plan for stops and decisions at different points. This makes the process more flexible and engaging.
  3. Having a clear understanding of each checkpoint helps everyone involved know when and where to participate, creating better communication and teamwork.

Good intentions don't work

Tech Ramblings • 0 implied HN points • 05 Feb 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Good intentions alone are not enough to achieve goals; having clear processes is essential. Relying on gut feelings or promises can lead to bad outcomes.
  2. Good teams follow documented processes for tasks, decisions, and problem-solving. This helps everyone know what to do and ensures accountability.
  3. Amazon's culture emphasizes clear procedures, which makes it a great place for engineers. Following these principles helps teams work effectively and align their efforts.

Will I regret this decision when I die?

Tech Ramblings • 0 implied HN points • 29 Jan 23
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. Most decisions in life are simple and don't have significant consequences. It's okay to make mistakes on these easy choices.
  2. A small percentage of decisions are really important and can change your life. These are the choices that we should think about carefully.
  3. To live a fulfilling life, it's better to take risks and reduce regrets. Choosing what excites you is key to avoiding a life full of 'what ifs.'

The Small Choices You Make: Founders Dealing with Failure

Design is Love • 0 implied HN points • 12 Apr 23
💼 Business Decision-making
  1. Small choices in life matter a lot. Even simple daily decisions can lead to big impacts over time.
  2. Failing is just part of the process. It’s important to see every outcome as a lesson, helping you separate your worth from your business results.
  3. Make sure your actions reflect your values. Aligning your choices with what you believe helps keep you on track and focused.

What the Japanese Toilet Taught Me About Human Nature

David Reis on Software • 0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Decision-making
  1. People often follow the crowd instead of thinking for themselves. It's easier to just do what everyone else does, even if there's a better option available.
  2. Life is complicated, and we tend to rely on others to guide our choices. Like how we trust that if everyone is eating berries, they must be safe.
  3. We should take the time to think carefully about our choices instead of rushing to conclusions. Slow, thoughtful decisions can lead to better outcomes.