Make Up Your Mind: A Decision Making Guide to Thinking Clearly and Choosing Wisely

Praise for Make Up Your Mind "Our universities educate us in languages, arts, mathematics, sciences, and social studies. Our companies train us in team building, managing personalities, leadership styles, and so on. However, no one prepares us for the most important activity in our lives: decision making. Decisions define our lives, our careers, our businesses, our family choices, our financial future, everything about us. Make Up Your Mind addresses this neglected but most important aspect of our very being." — Dave House , Chairman, Brocade Corporation; former Senior VP, Intel Corporation; and retired CEO, Bay Networks "In this book, Hal Mooz reveals the secrets to great decision making in all facets of life. This is a book that will help anyone make better decisions. From senior executives to teenagers, from artists to salesmen, Make Up Your Mind will give you the techniques you need to succeed through better decision making. Let Hal be your coach and take your decision–making skills to the next level." — Frederick Giarrusso , Stanford University PhD, Decision Analysis; CEO, Stealth10, Inc. "In his new book, Hal Mooz distills the key elements of a graduate program in project management into a guide for making better decisions that can be used by anyone. After reading his book, I find myself analyzing every decision in a new systematic and rational way. This book will be equally valuable to the family deciding which vehicle to buy, the teenager deciding which college to attend, and the businessperson deciding which direction to take their company. It has changed my very way of approaching every decision I have to make." — Roger W. Fuller , cofounder, Maxim Integrated Products Inc. "Here′s a comprehensive, easy–to–understand guide to how we form judgments from the very analytical to the mostly unconscious and then make decisions. Use this book to learn how you are making judgments. Use this book to improve how you make decisions. There is nothing else like this book on the market." — Mike Duffy , Dean, Strategic Relations, University of San Francisco

Why This Book? ix Foreword Jeff Henley xi Background and Acknowledgments xv Preface xix PART I Are You Decision Fit? 1 CHAPTER 1 Decision Environment 3 CHAPTER 2 Decision Fundamentals for Thinking Clearly 13 CHAPTER 3 The Decision Type Frame 25 CHAPTER 4 The Bases for Judgment 55 CHAPTER 5 The Decision Solution Frame 83 PART II Deciding 97 CHAPTER 6 Process–Assisted Judgment 99 CHAPTER 7 Fact–Based Judgment 107 CHAPTER 8 Probability–Based Judgment 139 CHAPTER 9 Group Decision Making 149 CHAPTER 10 Summary 153 Bibliography 157 Index 159

Hal Mooz is cofounder of a training and consulting company dedicated to training in project management, systems engineering, systems management, and related disciplines. He consults to government agencies and private organizations, including AT&T, NASA, Lockheed Martin, and numerous others. He has trained more than 10,000 high–technology project managers. His book Visualizing Project Management was selected by MIT, Stanford, Naval Postgraduate School, The George Washington University, and others for graduate classes and professional development programs. He is the co–creator of the University of California Project Management Training Program and a co–developer of the Stanford University Systems Engineering Certificate Program. Hal Mooz is a Certified Systems Engineering Professional and a Certified Project Management Professional. He earned the CIA′s Seal Medallion and was named an INCOSE Pioneer.