full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Patrick McGinnis: How to make faster decisions

Unscramble the Blue Letters


When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example, you can wlthtie down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favorite — ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch, then let the second hand tell you what you're going to do. Looks like I'll be having the fish.

That brings us to low-stakes decisions. These have ceunoecsqens, but none are earth-shattering, and there are plenty of acceptable ouotmecs. Many routine things at work, like purchasing a printer, booking a htoel or choosing between possible venues for an off-site are csalailslcy low-stakes in nature. Some thinking is required, but these aren't make-or-break doaeenrtbliis, and you'll probably forget about them in a few weeks. Here, you can also outsource decision-making, but you want some critical thinking involved, as there are some stkeas. This time, you'll outsource to a person.

Open Cloze


When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example, you can _______ down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favorite — ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch, then let the second hand tell you what you're going to do. Looks like I'll be having the fish.

That brings us to low-stakes decisions. These have ____________, but none are earth-shattering, and there are plenty of acceptable ________. Many routine things at work, like purchasing a printer, booking a _____ or choosing between possible venues for an off-site are ___________ low-stakes in nature. Some thinking is required, but these aren't make-or-break _____________, and you'll probably forget about them in a few weeks. Here, you can also outsource decision-making, but you want some critical thinking involved, as there are some ______. This time, you'll outsource to a person.

Solution


  1. hotel
  2. deliberations
  3. whittle
  4. outcomes
  5. stakes
  6. classically
  7. consequences

Original Text


When it comes to no-stakes decisions, the key is to outsource them to the universe. For example, you can whittle down your choices to just two and then flip a coin. Or try my personal favorite — ask the watch. Assign each one of your choices to one half of your watch, then let the second hand tell you what you're going to do. Looks like I'll be having the fish.

That brings us to low-stakes decisions. These have consequences, but none are earth-shattering, and there are plenty of acceptable outcomes. Many routine things at work, like purchasing a printer, booking a hotel or choosing between possible venues for an off-site are classically low-stakes in nature. Some thinking is required, but these aren't make-or-break deliberations, and you'll probably forget about them in a few weeks. Here, you can also outsource decision-making, but you want some critical thinking involved, as there are some stakes. This time, you'll outsource to a person.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
perfectly acceptable 2
acceptable outcomes 2


Important Words


  1. acceptable
  2. assign
  3. booking
  4. brings
  5. choices
  6. choosing
  7. classically
  8. coin
  9. consequences
  10. critical
  11. decisions
  12. deliberations
  13. favorite
  14. fish
  15. flip
  16. forget
  17. hand
  18. hotel
  19. involved
  20. key
  21. nature
  22. outcomes
  23. outsource
  24. person
  25. personal
  26. plenty
  27. printer
  28. purchasing
  29. required
  30. routine
  31. stakes
  32. thinking
  33. time
  34. universe
  35. venues
  36. watch
  37. weeks
  38. whittle
  39. work