#ThinkfullyHabit: Cut to the point
The more information you have, the better, right? Well not always. There’s a fundamental fact that we need to get to grips with. More information doesn’t necessarily lead to better decisions.
Simply put, not all information is equal. Some information is more important, while other less so. What is the critical insight versus the superfluous and excess ‘noise’? Working out the difference is crucial.
“To be a successful decision maker, we have to edit. ”
WHY?
Extra information isn’t helpful if it is not significant enough or it confuses and distracts from what’s really important.
Take the issue of how to treat patients who are experiencing chest pain. What information do doctors need to help them make the best decisions? Cardiologist Lee Goldman spent years looking into this. He identified just 4 questions that when answered would help predict the best treatment option for patients. However, few people wanted to believe that boiling things down a few key risk factors via an algorithm could be better than trained doctors gathering more complete patient information on which to base their judgement. It led to a two year study comparing the results from doctors who followed Goldman’s rules with those who didn’t. The use of Goldman’s rule was safer and also 70% better at recognising false alarms. It led to clearer decision making and saved both lives and money.
Generally, when it comes to complex issues, there are invariably a few crucial factors that are important. If you can work out what those crucial factors are, you are a long way towards making better decisions. Of course, algorithms, frameworks and models aren’t perfect. But the point here is that neither are people.
So, next time you are faced with an important issue, getting clear on the right evaluation criteria is a great place to start. This is not about taking blunt short cuts without appreciating the complexity. Instead, it's working out what’s most important within the complexity and simplifying to the main criteria. Once you have this you can use it to cut through to the most helpful information, see things more clearly and avoid getting lost in unnecessary detail.
On that point, I’ll leave it there.