The Art of making decisions like a boss!

Decision making is one of the most difficult thing we do everyday. When you have a bunch of options, you are not sure where our each of them might lead to and you do not want to make a wrong choice. Is there any way to make a better decision? If you can list down all possible events, its possible results, You will know the worst case scenarios and be better prepared to face the failure. In this article, we will see how we can use Thought Experiment to make a better decision.

Thought Experiment

Thought experiment is a technique used to experiment and explore a theory, an idea or a hypothesis to figure out possible consequences without doing it practically. Great thinkers, scientists and geniuses have employed the thought experiment technique to validate their most brilliant ideas and hypothesis. Thought experiment technique is heavily used in reverse engineering.

Though this technique is usually used by scientists and engineers to experiment complex ideas that cannot be experimented in reality or due to the cost of the experiment. We can still use it in our day to day life to make decisions.

Why Thought Experiment?

The Thought Experiment gives us the framework to explore ideas without practically doing it. It’s well defined by its possible events and hypothetical questions are considered. This technique allows us to analyze, explain, predict & control events in a better and more productive way.

Thought Experiment is very useful in

• Strategic thinking.

• Decision making.

• Exploring ideas.

How to do a thought experiment?

You have a startup idea and you want to become an entrepreneur. What’s next? Can you quit your job today and build a startup? No, that decision may cost really high?? Let’s use Thought Experiment to explore this idea.

You can create a list of questions like these,

“What if <Scenario 1> happens?”
“If <Scenario 1> happens, outcome is <Result 1>”
“If <Scenario 1> doesn’t happens, outcome is either <Result 2> or <Result x>”

Let’s jump into the experiment. I am having this series of questions to validate my idea. These questions may not be enough to predict everything, this is good enough to illustrate the idea of a thought experiment.

What if you want to become an entrepreneur?
Do you have any product idea?
What is the idea?
What is the problem?
What is the solution?
Is there anyone who already solved it?
If Yes, Can you solve it better?
Do you have a business model that can generate revenue?
How much money you need, to kick-start?
Do you have enough funds?
If No, Is there anyone who can fund this idea?

After answering all the above questions, You should have a better clarity on the idea. Having more clarity leads to a better decision.

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions to improve this technique? Share your comments below.