Ralph L. Keeney Book order (chronological)

The best way to improve your quality of life is through the decisions you make. This book teaches several fundamental decision-making skills, provides numerous applications and examples, and ultimately nudges you toward smarter decisions. These nudges frame more desirable decisions for you to face by identifying the objectives for your decisions and generating superior alternatives to those initially considered. All of the nudges are based on psychology and behavioral economics research and are accessible to all readers. The new concept of a decision opportunity is introduced, which involves creating a decision that you desire to face. Solving a decision opportunity improves your life, whereas resolving a decision problem only restores the quality of your life to that before the decision problem occurred. We all can improve our decision-making and reap the better quality of life that results. This book shows you how.

Where should I live? Is it time for a new job? Which candidate should I hire? We constantly face decisions that shape our lives, yet many lack effective decision-making skills. This often leads to hesitant choices and missed opportunities. Experts with over 100 years of combined experience offer a clear, flexible roadmap for making impactful decisions and achieving your goals. Their step-by-step approach teaches you to evaluate your plans, break down decisions into key elements, identify relevant drivers, apply systematic thinking, and use the right information for the best outcomes. This guide doesn’t dictate what to decide; it empowers you with the process to enhance your decision-making confidence at work and home. By routinely applying these time-tested methods, you’ll improve your ability to make informed choices. Don’t wait for decisions to be imposed on you; actively seek out choices that align with your long-term goals, values, and beliefs. Take charge of your life by making informed decisions a lifelong habit.

This text argues that in decision-making a focus should be placed on the bottom-line objectives that give it its meaning. It states that through recognizing and articulating fundamental values, better decision opportunities can be identified, thereby creating better alternatives.