🧮 Decision Matrix - How to apply?
+ AI prompt | Wisdom Letter 257
Making wise decisions can often feel overwhelming.
When faced with important decisions, we often resort to “gut feelings” or seek advice from others.
It may work, but these approaches may lead to overlooking crucial factors or you may get swayed by bias.
That’s where a Decision Matrix can help.
This can be a powerful tool to help you take a rational approach to the big decisions in life. Something like a job change.
Let’s understand how to use a Decision Matrix with a real example of Sarah, a marketing manager in New York City, as she uses a Decision Matrix to choose between three job offers.
Sarah’s Choice
Step 1: Identify Options
Sarah's options are:
A. Tech Startup
B. Established Corporation
C. Marketing Agency
Step 2: Define Criteria
Sarah decides on five criteria:
Salary
Work-Life Balance
Career Growth Potential
Company Culture
Commute Time
Step 3: Weight Criteria
Sarah weights her criteria (out of 10):
Salary: 8
Work-Life Balance: 9
Career Growth Potential: 10
Company Culture: 7
Commute Time: 6
Step 4: Rate Options
Sarah rates each option against each criterion (out of 10):
Step 5: Calculate Scores
Step 6: Analyze Results
The Decision Matrix reveals that the Marketing Agency scores highest, followed closely by the Tech Startup, with the Established Corporation coming in last.
Insights:
While the Established Corporation offers the highest salary, it scores lower in other important areas.
The Marketing Agency, despite offering the lowest salary, comes out on top due to strong scores in work-life balance and commute time.
The Tech Startup is a close second, excelling in career growth and company culture.
Sarah's Decision:
After creating this matrix, Sarah realizes that while salary is important, other factors like work-life balance and career growth weigh more heavily in her decision. She decides to accept the offer from the Marketing Agency, feeling confident that it aligns best with her overall priorities.
Reflection:
The Decision Matrix helped Sarah:
Objectively compare her options across multiple criteria
Discover that her initial lean towards the highest-paying job might not be the best overall choice
Feel more confident in her decision by having a clear, numerical breakdown of her options
Of course, the decision matrix is just a guide to help you make informed decisions, not a substitute for your own judgment.
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Now, back today’s topic - Decision Matrix
So What is a Decision Matrix?
A Decision Matrix is a systematic method for evaluating and prioritizing a list of options based on specific criteria.
It's like having a personal assistant that helps you organize your thoughts, weigh your options, and arrive at a well-reasoned decision.
Why Use a Decision Matrix?
Clarity: It breaks down complex decisions into manageable components.
Objectivity: By assigning numerical values, it reduces emotional bias.
Flexibility: It can be applied to various decisions, from career moves to personal choices.
Insight: It often reveals factors you might have overlooked.
How to Create Your Own Decision Matrix
Identify Your Options: List all possible choices for your decision.
Define Your Criteria: Determine what factors are important in making this decision.
Weight Your Criteria: Assign importance to each criterion (usually on a scale of 1-10).
Rate Your Options: Score each option against each criterion.
Calculate: Multiply ratings by weights and sum up for each option.
Analyze: The highest-scoring option is mathematically your best choice, but always trust your intuition too!
For you next big decision - think deeply about the criteria that matter to you to, and the weights that those criteria hold relative to each other. Just thinking about this will help you take a more rational decision.
Decision Matrix - AI Prompt
I’ve designed a prompt that you can use with any AI chatbot like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and use it to apply the Decision Matrix to any crucial decision in your life.
Use this prompt - enter your specific decision and it will ask you questions, and create a decision matrix for you. And as you give scores, it will also calculate the final score for you for every option.
Just copy the prompt from the Notion page above, and paste it into a an AI chatbot, enter your specific details and hit enter.
And see the magic!
Further Reading
From the Archives
3 interesting posts from The Wisdom Project archives -
Last weeks top link -
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That’s it for today.
See you next week 👋
We’ll be back with more interesting notes, highlights and curations.
Cheers,
Ayush & Aditi