chaalwise

The printable pack

Every strategy idea on its own page, for a team session or a class, with no screens or accounts. Print it from your browser, on both sides: each idea starts a new page, with its answers on the back.

Running a session: about 25 minutes, and 5 at the next

  1. Read the idea aloud (2 minutes).
  2. Everyone answers the questions alone, on paper, before anyone speaks (8 minutes). Independent answers first make the discussion better.
  3. Compare answers, then read the answers and why (10 minutes).
  4. Each person writes one plan, "When …, I will …", from the discussion points (5 minutes).
  5. At the next session, ask who used it and what happened (5 minutes).

Chaalwise measures answers, not behaviour: Does this transfer? says what to expect. The ideas are shown in chess and other games on the site; this pack keeps to the cases away from the board.

Idea 1 of 22

The blunder check

Before you act, ask what could go wrong, and look at what the other side can do first.

Off the board it is the same habit. Before you act, ask what could go wrong. Look first at what the other side, or the situation, can do to you, and only then at what you want to do.

Questions

  1. A colleague took credit for your work in the team chat. You have written a sharp reply to everyone and your finger is on Send. What do you do first?

    1. Read it as they will, and ask what happens if it is forwarded
    2. Check that every fact in it is right, then send it
    3. Send it now, while the point is still fresh

  2. You have found a flat you like. The owner asks you to transfer two months' rent today "to hold it", before you have seen the rental agreement. What do you check first?

    1. That the rent and deposit match the advert
    2. What stops them keeping the money if no agreement follows
    3. Pay now, since good flats go quickly

  3. Phone plan A costs 199 a month for the first year, then 649 a month, on a two-year contract. Plan B costs 399 a month throughout. Over the two years, which costs less?

    1. Plan A, because the first year saves 2,400
    2. Plan B, by 600 over the two years
    3. They come to about the same over two years

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I am about to send an important email or message
  • I am about to agree to a deadline or a price
  • I am about to hand in an essay or a piece of work

Answers

  1. A. Their reply is the threat. Checking your facts is about your own move; the check is about what they, and anyone they forward it to, can do next.
  2. B. Before you commit, ask what your move lets the other side do. Money paid before an agreement can be kept, or used to push for new terms. Ask for a receipt that says when it is refunded, or pay when you sign.
  3. B. Plan A is 12 × 199 + 12 × 649 = 10,176. Plan B is 24 × 399 = 9,576. Like a chess piece left unguarded, the danger is in the part you are not looking at: what happens after the offer ends.

Idea 2 of 22

Count it through

Follow a chain of consequences to the end before you agree to the first step.

Off the board, many offers look good at the first step. Count the whole chain, to where it stops, before you agree.

Questions

  1. A bottle of sauce costs 120, or you can have three for the price of two. You will finish one bottle before the others go off. What does the offer do for you?

    1. It saves you 120, the price of the free bottle
    2. It saves you 40 on each bottle
    3. It costs you 120 more than you need to spend

  2. A gym gives you the first month free if you then sign a 12-month contract at 1,500 a month, which cannot be ended early. You expect to stop going after about three months. What does saying yes commit you to?

    1. Nothing at first: the first month is free
    2. 3,000: the two paid months you will use
    3. 18,000: the whole contract

  3. One office printer costs 8,000 and another costs 15,000. Ink for the cheaper one costs 2,000 a month, and for the other 800 a month. You will keep it for three years. Which costs less over that time?

    1. The 8,000 one: it saves 7,000 today
    2. The 15,000 one: 43,800 in all, against 80,000
    3. About the same: the saving and the ink cancel out

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • an offer looks good at first sight
  • I am asked to take on a new commitment
  • I am about to sign up for something with a free start

Answers

  1. C. You pay 240 for three bottles to use one that costs 120 on its own. Counted through, the deal costs you twice what you needed to spend.
  2. C. As in a chess exchange, the free month is the first capture and the contract is the recapture. 12 × 1,500 = 18,000, whether you go or not. Judge where the sequence ends.
  3. B. Count it through. 8,000 + 36 × 2,000 = 80,000, and 15,000 + 36 × 800 = 43,800. The low price is only the first step of the chain; judge where it ends.

Idea 3 of 22

Their next move

Think through how the other side will respond, as they see it, not as you hope.

Off the board, before you act, think through how the other side will respond. Picture their best reply from where they stand, then decide.

Questions

  1. You plan to ask for a raise next week. Last week you missed an important deadline. How do you prepare?

    1. List your best results of the year to make the case
    2. Expect the deadline to come up, and prepare your answer
    3. Ask at once, before the deadline counts against you

  2. You tell your supplier you will switch to a rival unless they cut their price by 10%. They know the rival has a three-month waiting list for new customers. What are they most likely to do?

    1. Cut the price, to keep your business
    2. Hold the price, since you cannot switch soon
    3. Raise the price, now that they know you are unhappy

  3. You and the stall across the road each sell 100 cups of tea a day at 20 a cup. You cut to 18 to win their customers. If they cut to 18 the next day, and each stall keeps its 100 cups, what has your cut done to your daily takings?

    1. Raised them, from the customers you win
    2. Left them the same, since you both cut
    3. Lowered them by 200, and theirs too

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I prepare for a conversation that matters
  • I am about to make a proposal or ask for something
  • I send a message that someone may push back on

Answers

  1. B. Their best reply uses your weakest point. Prepare for it, or choose a better moment.
  2. B. Picture their reply from where they stand, not from where you hope they stand. A threat they know you cannot carry out soon is easy to wait out. Make the threat once you have a place on the rival's list, or bargain with something they want.
  3. C. 100 cups at 18 is 1,800 instead of 2,000. If their best reply cancels your move, your move only costs you. Think one reply ahead before you commit.

Idea 4 of 22

Patterns save thinking

Learn the common shapes by heart, so the obvious answers come at once and your thinking goes where it is needed.

Off the board, every field has its patterns. Learn the common shapes by heart, so the obvious answers are instant and your effort goes to what is new.

Questions

  1. A new cook keeps burning onions, each time in a different recipe. What is the most useful thing for them to learn?

    1. Onions catch over high heat once soft, so turn it down then
    2. Follow each recipe's timings more closely
    3. Watch the pan more closely every time they cook

  2. A new accountant checks monthly reports. She keeps finding the same few kinds of error, such as a total that leaves out a row, and each takes her an hour to track down. What helps her most?

    1. Learn the common errors as a list to look for first
    2. Check every figure in each report, one by one, from the top
    3. Wait until she has seen enough reports to spot errors by feel

  3. A text says: 'Your bank account will be blocked today. Verify now at this link and tell us the code we send you.' Last month's scam text was about a parcel. What tells you most about this one?

    1. Its shape, a rush, a link and a request for a code
    2. It reads nothing like the parcel text you saw
    3. It names your own bank, and the number looks real

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I notice a mistake I have made before
  • a problem at work or in study feels familiar
  • I check over a piece of work before handing it in

Answers

  1. A. Once the cause is a pattern you recognise, you stop solving the same problem every time.
  2. A. Patterns save thinking. Once the common errors are known by heart, they are spotted at once, and her hour goes to the unusual problems that need real thought.
  3. A. A pattern is the shape, not one example. Urgency, a link and a request for a code mark a scam whatever the story; learn the shape and you will spot the next one, worded differently.

Idea 5 of 22

Small steps that stick

Each step should leave fewer ways for things to go wrong, and the last step needs as much care as the first.

Off the board, a big goal is a series of small steps, each leaving fewer ways for it to go wrong. And the finish needs care, because that is where hurry spoils the work.

Questions

  1. You are moving house in two weeks and have a whole flat to pack. Which way of packing leaves the fewest things to go wrong on moving day?

    1. A room at a time, each box labelled and sealed as you go
    2. Everything in the last two days, so you can use things till then
    3. A few things from every room each evening, to sort out later

  2. You have one weekend to clear a garage packed to the roof, and you will not finish it. By Sunday night, which is the better state to leave it in?

    1. Half of it fully cleared, the rest untouched
    2. All of it a little tidier than before
    3. Everything sorted into piles on the floor

  3. You want 300,000 for a deposit on a home in two years, and you can afford to save 12,500 a month. Which plan is most likely to get you there?

    1. Move 12,500 to a separate account each payday
    2. Save whatever is left at the end of each month
    3. Save more later, once your pay goes up

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • a big job feels too large to start
  • I plan my day or my week
  • an assignment or project is due in more than a week

Answers

  1. A. Shrink the problem. Each finished room is one fewer way for moving day to go wrong. The last step, the move itself, still needs care, and that is easier when little is left open.
  2. A. A finished half is like a square the losing king can no longer use in a chess endgame. The problem only shrinks if each gain is kept.
  3. A. 24 × 12,500 = 300,000. Moving it on payday keeps each month's gain out of reach, so the gap gets smaller and the plan gets harder to knock off course, like the shrinking box around the king in a chess endgame.

Idea 6 of 22

Basics before brilliance

Get the plain, sound steps right first. Clever ideas pay on top of them, not instead of them.

Off the board, the same holds when you start something new. The plain steps, done well, beat clever shortcuts. A clever plan that skips the basics works only if nobody does the basics against you. Get the groundwork right first.

Questions

  1. Your maths exam is in six weeks. In a practice exam, you lost 30 of 100 marks to slips with fractions and signs, and 10 on the two hardest questions. How do you spend most of your revision?

    1. Practise the hardest questions until you can solve them
    2. Drill fractions and signs until the slips stop
    3. Learn shortcut tricks that save time in the exam

  2. You are opening a small café. A friend suggests a big social media launch with a well-known guest. You have not yet settled your suppliers, prices or opening hours. What comes first?

    1. Settle suppliers, prices and hours, then plan the launch
    2. The launch, since first impressions decide a café
    3. Both at once, splitting your time evenly between them

  3. You start as the manager of a team of six. Two of them missed deadlines last month because nobody tracks who is doing what. Your director wants a bold idea for next year within a month. What do you do first?

    1. Draft the bold idea, since the director asked for it
    2. Set up a weekly list of who is doing what, by when
    3. Hire a seventh person to cover the missed work

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I start a new job, role or project
  • I am tempted by a clever shortcut
  • I plan my revision or practice

Answers

  1. B. 30 marks lost to the basics against 10 to the hardest questions. Fixing the basics is worth three times as much, and it helps every question on the paper.
  2. A. Basics before brilliance. A clever launch pays only on top of a café that runs well. Get the plain parts right first; then the launch has something to show.
  3. B. The missed deadlines come from a missing basic. Fix that first, and the bold idea has a team that can deliver it.

Idea 7 of 22

Lead or answer well

Move first when your move commits you or anchors the other side; answer when their move tells you something. When you answer, choose on purpose, to level things or to change their shape.

Off the board, someone always moves first, with the first offer or the first idea in a meeting. Moving first pays when your move commits you or anchors the other side, and you know what things are worth. Moving second pays when their move tells you something you lack. Ask which is true here. If you lead, keep the initiative. If you answer, choose on purpose. Make it level and solid, or change the shape of the problem.

Questions

  1. You are hiring a freelance designer for a logo. You have checked, and similar work costs about 15,000. The designer asks what your budget is. What do you do?

    1. Name a fair figure near 15,000, with what the job includes
    2. Ask them to quote first, so you never pay more than needed
    3. Name a very low figure, such as 3,000, to leave room to go up

  2. You are selling your bicycle. Ones like it sell for about 8,000. A buyer opens at 4,000. What do you say?

    1. Counter at about 8,000, pointing to what similar ones sell for
    2. Offer to meet in the middle at 6,000
    3. Ask what is the most they could really pay

  3. A large chain opens next door to your small hardware shop. It sells the same items for 15% less, and it can afford low prices for longer than you can. What is your best answer?

    1. Match its prices on the items people buy most
    2. Offer what it does not, such as repairs and advice
    3. Cut your prices below its prices for a while

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • someone makes me an offer or a request
  • a meeting opens with someone else's plan
  • a group project is shared out

Answers

  1. A. Lead or answer well. You know what the work is worth, so moving first lets your figure anchor the talk. Answer second when you lack that knowledge and their move would tell you something.
  2. A. Their 4,000 is an anchor. A counter grounded in what similar bicycles fetch pulls the talk back towards level; splitting the difference lets their first number decide the middle.
  3. B. A price fight is the chain's strongest ground. Changing what you compete on is like the Sicilian Defence in chess, riskier but with more to win.

Idea 8 of 22

When the script runs out

Prepared plans run out. When they do, act on the reasons behind them.

Off the board, scripts are prepared lines. A sales pitch, a model answer, the way it was done last time. They work while things go as expected. When the other side does something new, do not force the script. Ask what it was for, and act on that reason.

Questions

  1. You learned to solve equations by following worked examples. In the exam, a question worth 12 of the 80 marks looks like none of them. What do you do first?

    1. Copy the method of the nearest example and adjust it
    2. Skip it, since you could not prepare for everything
    3. Work out what the question asks and which rules apply

  2. At a shop's help desk, you follow a script for refund requests. A caller says she does not want a refund. She wants to swap the item for another size before her daughter's birthday on Saturday. The script has no step for this. What do you do?

    1. Look for a way to swap it in time, since that is the script's aim
    2. Follow the script and offer the refund, as it says
    3. Tell her you can only help with refunds, and end the call

  3. You prepared a pitch for a client's finance head, built around cutting their costs by 20%. Ten minutes in, she says costs are fine; their problem is that staff keep leaving. What do you do?

    1. Finish the pitch, since the 20% saving may win her round
    2. Ask what staff turnover costs them, and how you could help
    3. Offer a bigger discount to keep her interested

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • a meeting or call leaves my prepared plan
  • a question is worded in a way I have not seen
  • a routine I follow stops working

Answers

  1. C. The examples were there to teach the rules. When none fits, go back to what the question asks, and use the rules directly.
  2. A. When the script runs out, act on the reason behind it. A refund script exists to solve customers' problems and keep them coming back. When a caller brings something new, use that aim, not the exact steps.
  3. B. The pitch was a way to help her business. That reason still holds when the script does not, so find out what her real problem costs, and answer that.

Idea 9 of 22

Find what everything depends on

Find the one part that holds everything else up. Strike it if it is theirs; back it up if it is yours.

Off the board, plans, teams and deals often rest on one part. A single supplier, one person who knows the system, one assumption. Find it before you act. If it is theirs, that is where to press. If it is yours, back it up before someone else finds it.

Questions

  1. Your group of four has six weeks for a report. Every chapter uses the results of a survey that one member is running, due in week two. It is week one. What do you check first?

    1. That each chapter has a clear outline
    2. That the survey is on track, and who could step in
    3. That the work is split fairly between the four

  2. Your bakery sells 200 cakes a day. All its flour comes from one mill, which closed for a week last year. You have 50,000 to make the business safer. What do you spend it on?

    1. A second mill, and a week of flour in store
    2. A new oven, since the old one is the slowest
    3. Advertising, to grow sales past 200 a day

  3. A small school keeps all its records, fees and timetables in one online system. Only the office manager knows the admin password and how to restore the backups. She is going on a month's leave. What matters most before she goes?

    1. Write down how to run and restore it, and share access safely
    2. Ask her to keep her phone on in case something breaks
    3. Move to a faster system with more features

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I plan a project with several parts
  • I get ready for an exam, a trip or an event
  • I size up a rival's plan or offer

Answers

  1. B. All four chapters rest on one survey and one person. Check it, and have someone ready to step in, before anything else.
  2. A. Every cake rests on the one mill. Backing it up protects all 200 a day. The other spends improve one part while everything still hangs on the flour.
  3. A. Find what everything depends on. Here it is one person's knowledge, not the system. Back it up before it is needed by writing it down and giving a second person safe access.

Idea 10 of 22

Not so fast

Before you push on with your plan, ask what the other side wants, and stop it before it starts.

Off the board, before you push on with your own plan, ask what the other side most wants to do next. If it would hurt, spend a quiet step stopping it now. Preventing a problem is usually cheaper than fighting it once it has started.

Questions

  1. Your firm's biggest customer, a quarter of your sales, renews its contract in eight months. You hear a rival has been meeting their buyers. Your own plan this quarter is to win new customers. What do you do now?

    1. Visit the customer now, ask what they need, and fix it early
    2. Stick to the plan, and deal with the renewal when it comes
    3. Cut your price to them now, before they ask for it

  2. Every year, the lab sessions for final projects are fully booked in the first week of term. You will need about 10 sessions, but your plan will not be clear until week three. What do you do?

    1. Book 10 sessions this week, and adjust them later
    2. Wait until week three, when you know what you need
    3. Plan to share a friend's sessions if it fills up

  3. Your café's best supplier mentions that a hotel chain wants to buy their whole harvest next season at a higher price. Your contract renews in six months. Finding an equally good supplier would take months and cost you customers. What do you do now?

    1. Wait for the renewal, and match the hotel's price if it comes to that
    2. Talk with the supplier now about a longer contract, before any deal is made
    3. Start looking quietly for another supplier, in case they go

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I am about to push on with my own plan
  • I can see a deadline, booking or price that will bite
  • someone on the other side has an obvious next step

Answers

  1. A. Not so fast. Before pushing on with your own plan, ask what the other side most wants to do next. A quiet step with your biggest customer now is cheaper than fighting to win them back later.
  2. A. You know what will happen in week one. Booking now stops the problem before it starts, and changing a booking later is cheap.
  3. B. A longer contract now, perhaps at a slightly better price, costs far less than months without good stock. Acting before the rival's offer arrives is the quiet move that stops the threat.

Idea 11 of 22

Two birds, one stone

Look for the one move that serves two aims, so the other side cannot answer both.

Off the board, look for the one action that serves two aims at once. Against someone, it gives them two problems and time to answer one. In your own plans, it gets two results from the same effort.

Questions

  1. You want to get fitter, and the bus to college costs you 60 a day, about 1,200 a month. College is 5 km away on a safe road. Which plan serves you best?

    1. Join a gym for 1,500 a month and keep taking the bus
    2. Cycle to college most days
    3. Walk at weekends, and keep the bus for college

  2. This week you must train a new hire and clear 40 overdue customer queries. Training takes about 10 hours, the queries about 12, and you have 15 free hours. What do you do?

    1. Train first, then clear what queries you can
    2. Clear the queries first, and train next week
    3. Train the hire by clearing the queries together

  3. This month you must learn a new data tool for work, and your manager has asked you to start sharing what you know with the team. You have about four free hours a week. Which plan serves you best?

    1. Run a short weekly session for the team on what you learn
    2. Learn the tool alone first, then plan the sharing next month
    3. Split the hours, two for learning and two for sharing

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • two jobs compete for the same hours
  • I plan a change at work, in my studies or at home
  • I make a move that someone else must answer

Answers

  1. B. Cycling serves both aims with one change. It saves about 1,200 a month on fares, and builds exercise into every college day.
  2. C. Done one after the other, the two jobs need 22 hours and you have 15. Done together, the queries become the training material, and the same hours serve both aims.
  3. A. Two birds, one stone. Teaching the team what you are learning serves both aims at once. Preparing to explain the tool makes you learn it better, and the team learns too.

Idea 13 of 22

Simplify when ahead

When you are ahead and a sure win is what you need, remove the moving parts that could still go wrong.

Off the board, when you are ahead and a sure, modest win is worth more than a bigger, riskier one, remove what could still go wrong. Fewer moving parts, fewer surprises. This is not cashing in every gain early. It fits when you only need to finish, as with a deadline, a pass mark or a deal you only need to close.

Questions

  1. A client has agreed to sign your contract for 1,000,000 next week. Your team suggests adding a feature you have never built, which would raise it to 1,200,000. A late delivery would let the client cancel. What do you do?

    1. Add the feature, since 200,000 more is worth the effort
    2. Sign the contract as agreed
    3. Sign, and promise the feature as a free extra

  2. You have saved 290,000 of the 300,000 deposit you need for a flat in six months. A friend suggests moving the savings into shares, which might rise 20% by then, or fall as much. What do you do?

    1. Move it all into shares for the faster growth
    2. Keep it in a safe savings account
    3. Move half into shares to balance the risk

  3. You must pass a course, and need 40 marks. Your coursework already gives you 30. The final exam has a section worth 20 on topics you have practised, and a hard section worth 30 that could take the whole time. How do you use the exam?

    1. Start with the hard section, for the bigger score
    2. Answer the practised section first, then try the rest
    3. Split the time evenly between the two sections

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I am close to finishing work with a fixed deadline
  • a plan that is working gets a new, untested extra
  • I already have enough to meet the target

Answers

  1. B. You are ahead, and the deal is won. Adding untested work risks 1,000,000 to chase 200,000. Close the sure deal, and offer the feature later as its own project.
  2. B. You are nearly there, and money above the deposit matters little to you. Simplify. Keep the money safe, and save the last 10,000.
  3. B. You are ahead and only need to finish. The practised section can give you the 10 marks you need. Secure that first, then spend what time is left on the extra.

Idea 14 of 22

Give a little, get more

Give up one thing only for more of another, and count both in the same units.

Off the board, most real choices are trades, not free wins. Money, time and position can be swapped for one another. Give one up only for more of another, and count both in the same units. What you give up is the cost, even when no money changes hands.

Questions

  1. Your team spends 10 hours a week on manual data entry. A tool costing 60,000 a year would cut that to 2 hours. An hour of the team's time costs the firm 500. What do you do?

    1. Buy it, as the hours saved are worth about 200,000 a year
    2. Skip it, since the team's time is already paid for
    3. Buy it only if it pays for itself within a month

  2. Your work laptop is slow. A repair shop will fix it overnight for 3,000. Fixing it yourself costs nothing but takes about 12 hours, time you would otherwise spend on freelance work paid at 400 an hour. What do you do?

    1. Pay the shop: 3,000 is less than the 4,800 you give up
    2. Fix it yourself, since it costs nothing
    3. Live with it, since both options cost something

  3. A friend offers a swap. You spend 3 hours helping with her coding assignment, and she teaches you the statistics you are stuck on, which would take you about 8 hours alone. Your own deadline is in a week. What do you do?

    1. Accept, as you give 3 hours and save about 5
    2. Decline, as you cannot spare 3 hours this week
    3. Decline, and learn the statistics alone to be sure

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • someone asks me to give up time or money
  • I am about to refuse a small cost out of habit
  • I choose between two uses of my week

Answers

  1. A. 8 hours a week at 500, over about 50 working weeks, is 200,000 a year of time for 60,000 of money. Give the little to get the more.
  2. A. Give a little, get more. Count both sides in the same units. 12 hours × 400 = 4,800 of your time, against 3,000 for the shop. What you give up is the cost, even when no money changes hands.
  3. A. Give 3 hours, get back 8. Counted in the same units, the trade leaves you 5 hours ahead before your deadline.

Idea 15 of 22

A plan, step by step

Turn a goal into a route of small steps, each worth having on its own, and look again after each one.

Off the board, a goal is not yet a plan. Break it into steps you can take one at a time, each worth having even if the rest changes. After each step, look again, because the situation moves too.

Questions

  1. Your exam is in 7 weeks and covers 12 chapters. You want the last week free for revision. How do you plan the time?

    1. Two chapters a week, with a short self-test each Sunday
    2. Read all twelve once quickly, then go back over them
    3. Start with the hardest chapters and see how far you get

  2. Your team takes 10 working days to close the accounts each month. You want it down to 5 within six months. Which plan is most likely to get there?

    1. Change one stage a month, and count the days after each
    2. Switch every stage to a new process at once next month
    3. Set the 5-day target now and leave the team to find a way

  3. You want to give a 10-minute talk in a new language at a conference in nine months. You can study for 30 minutes a day. Which plan is most likely to get you there?

    1. Monthly targets, each useful alone, checked and adjusted each month
    2. Study grammar for six months, then start speaking
    3. Write the talk now and learn it by heart, word for word
    4. Take an intensive three-week course just before the conference

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I set a goal for a project at work
  • I start revising for a test or an exam
  • I plan a change at home, such as a budget or a routine

Answers

  1. A. Twelve chapters in six weeks is two a week. The Sunday test is the look after each step. If a week slips, you know at once, and can change the plan while there is time.
  2. A. Six months give room for six changes, each one checked. A day saved is kept even if a later change fails, and a change that does not help shows at once.
  3. A. A plan, step by step. Break the goal into steps you can use on their own, such as ordering a meal, then a short chat, then a five-minute talk. Check after each one and adjust, because the route will change.

Idea 16 of 22

Resources change value

What a thing is worth depends on the situation. When the situation changes, value what you hold again.

Off the board, nothing has a fixed value. A skill, a product or a contact can be worth a lot in one situation and little in the next. When the situation changes, value what you hold again, instead of going by what it used to be worth.

Questions

  1. At school you earned top marks by learning facts quickly. At university, the exams let you bring your notes and ask you to argue a case. You have one extra hour a day to study. How do you use it?

    1. Write practice answers that argue a case
    2. Learn more facts, since memory is your strength
    3. Copy out neater, fuller notes to take in

  2. A small firm has five sales staff and one web developer. Two years ago, one order in five came through the website. Now four in five do. There is money for one new hire. Who should it be?

    1. A second developer, for the website
    2. A sixth salesperson, as sales staff bring in orders
    3. Half of each, a part-time developer and seller

  3. For ten years you have been your office's expert in a desktop accounts program. Next year the firm moves to a new online system, which most staff will learn in a week. How do you plan your learning?

    1. Learn the new system early, and help others make the move
    2. Deepen your skill in the old program, your proven strength
    3. Wait for the move, since your experience will carry over

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • my team, my role or my market changes
  • I fall back on an old strength out of habit
  • I choose what to study or practise next

Answers

  1. A. The same strength changed value when the exam changed. Spend the hour on what the new situation rewards, not on what used to earn marks.
  2. A. The website used to bring one order in five; now it brings four. The value of each role moved with the business, so the next hire should follow it, as a chess pawn's value grows when the other pieces come off.
  3. A. Resources change value. Your skill in the old program was worth a lot while the firm used it. When the situation changes, value what you hold again. Being early on the new system, and able to help others, is worth more now.

Idea 17 of 22

Pass the problem back

Some positions are bad for whoever must move next. When you can, make the move that leaves the hard choice with the other side.

Off the board, some choices are hard for whoever has to make them. When a choice belongs to someone else, do not quietly take it on yourself. Make the move that hands it back, clearly and fairly, so the person who owns it has to make it.

Questions

  1. You already have three projects due this month. Your manager asks you to fit in a fourth as well. What do you reply?

    1. Ask which of the three should move to make room
    2. Say yes, and work the weekends to fit it in
    3. Say no, as you are already fully booked

  2. In a group project, a teammate asks you to split the work, then objects to each split you suggest. The deadline is in ten days. What do you do next?

    1. Offer two fair splits and ask them to choose one
    2. Take on their part yourself to end the argument
    3. Keep suggesting new splits until one is accepted

  3. A client asks you to pick between two designs for their website. Both work well. The choice depends on how they want their brand to feel, which only they can say. What do you do?

    1. Set out what each says about the brand, and ask them to choose
    2. Pick the one you like best, to save them the trouble
    3. Make a third design that mixes the two of them

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • someone hands me a choice that is really theirs
  • I am asked to take on more than the time allows
  • a group cannot agree and waits for me to give way

Answers

  1. A. Which project matters most is your manager's choice. Asking which one moves hands that choice back, where it belongs, instead of fitting four projects' work into the time for three.
  2. A. While you keep proposing, they keep the easy part, which is objecting. Two fair options hand the choice to them. Now they must decide, as in chess, where the king that has to move must give way.
  3. A. Pass the problem back. The choice belongs to the client, because it rests on what only they know. Hand it back clearly, with what they need to decide, rather than quietly taking it on yourself.

Idea 18 of 22

Look at three before choosing

Before you choose, name at least three options, including one you had not first thought of, and compare them.

Off the board, decisions often arrive as a yes or a no, take the offer or not. Before you choose, name at least three options, including one you had not first thought of. Then compare them on the same points. Decisions weighed as a single yes or no go wrong more often than those with several options.

Questions

  1. Your best engineer has an offer from a rival paying 20% more. Your first thought is to match it. What do you do before deciding?

    1. Ask her what would make her stay, and list a few options
    2. Match the offer at once, before she signs
    3. Weigh matching against letting her go, on cost alone

  2. Your team must cut its software costs by a fifth. The first idea in the meeting is to drop the most expensive tool, and someone asks for a vote on it now. What do you suggest?

    1. List a few more ways to cut, then compare them all
    2. Vote now, since dropping it meets the target
    3. Agree to drop it, but ask for a trial month first

  3. You must choose a summer project. Your tutor has offered one, and a friend wants you to join theirs. How do you choose?

    1. Find a third option, then compare all three
    2. Compare the two offers in detail, point by point
    3. Take the tutor's, since it will count for more

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • a decision reaches me as a yes or a no
  • I am about to take the first option that seems fine
  • I choose a course, a supplier or a project

Answers

  1. A. Matching or not is a yes or a no. Asking what matters to her turns up other options, such as a new role, flexible hours or a clear path to promotion, which may cost less and work better. Compare them all, then choose.
  2. A. Look at three before choosing. A first idea put to a vote becomes a yes or a no. Name other options, such as removing unused accounts or moving to a cheaper plan, then compare them all on the same points.
  3. A. Two offers make a choice look complete. A third option, such as a project you propose yourself, changes the comparison, even if you do not take it.

Idea 19 of 22

Spend effort where it matters

Time and attention are limited. Decide small choices you can undo quickly, and spend your effort on the few that are large and final.

Off the board, attention is your clock. Most choices are small, or easy to undo, so make them quickly. Save your time for the few that are large and hard to reverse. Giving the same care to everything leaves too little for what matters.

Questions

  1. You are starting at a new university. This week you must choose a phone cover, a regular lunch spot and your main subject of study, which is hard to change after the first year. How do you spend your time?

    1. Choose the small things fast, and give most time to the subject
    2. Give each of the three choices the same careful thought
    3. Settle the easy ones properly first, then the subject

  2. This week you must choose a booking tool for meeting rooms, which can be cancelled any month, and sign a five-year office lease. You have about ten hours for both. How do you split them?

    1. An hour on the tool, the rest on the lease
    2. Five hours each, so neither is rushed
    3. The tool first, as the team uses it every day

  3. In a two-hour exam, you have spent 20 minutes on a 2-mark question you cannot crack. There are 60 marks still to answer. What now?

    1. Leave it, do the rest, and come back if time allows
    2. Keep at it, since you have already put in 20 minutes
    3. Rush the rest at speed to win back the lost time

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • I face a choice that will be hard to undo
  • I notice I have spent a long time on a small choice
  • I plan my time for an exam, a deadline or a busy week

Answers

  1. A. Spend effort where it matters. A phone cover and a lunch spot are small and easy to undo. Your subject is large and hard to reverse, so it gets most of your time.
  2. A. Ask what each mistake would cost and whether it can be undone. The tool can be changed in a month; the lease binds you for sixty. Give the time to the lease.
  3. A. Two marks against sixty means the time belongs to the sixty. Moving on is not giving up. It is spending effort where it earns most, then coming back if there is time.

Idea 20 of 22

Finish the job

A winning position is not a win until it is finished. The last steps need as much care as the first.

Off the board, work that is nearly done is the easiest to spoil. The last steps, such as checking the figures, sending the right version or getting the signature, are where people relax. Keep the same care to the end, and before each last step, ask what could still go wrong.

Questions

  1. After three months, a client has agreed every term of a large contract by phone. The signed copy is due on Friday. It is Thursday afternoon. What do you do?

    1. Check the final copy against what was agreed, then send it
    2. Send it straight away, since everything is agreed
    3. Celebrate with the team now; Friday is a formality

  2. Your essay is written, two hours before the deadline. Last time you lost 10 marks for a missing reference list. What do you do with the two hours?

    1. Check it against the marking guide, then submit
    2. Submit now, before anything can go wrong
    3. Rewrite the opening, which you never liked

  3. You have spent weeks gathering papers for a visa application, and the appointment is tomorrow morning. Everything seems to be in the folder. What do you do tonight?

    1. Check each paper against the official list, one by one
    2. Rest well, since the hard part is done and a clear head matters
    3. Start planning the trip, since the papers are all ready

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • a piece of work is nearly done and I want it gone
  • a deal, an application or a form is ready to send
  • I am about to hand in an assignment

Answers

  1. A. The deal is won but not finished. One careful check of the final copy costs an hour; a mistake at this stage can cost the deal.
  2. A. The last step is a check, not a new move. Last time, the 10 marks were lost at the finish, not in the writing.
  3. A. Finish the job. Nearly done is when work is easiest to spoil. Before the last step, ask what could still go wrong, and check it with the same care you gave the first.

Idea 21 of 22

Make it hard

When you are behind, do not give in early. Find the defence that leaves the other side the most to get right.

Off the board, when things go badly, the pull is to give in early, by taking the first offer, dropping the bid or leaving a hard answer blank. Instead, ask what would make the result hardest to lose, and do that. This is not refusing ever to stop. When something is truly lost, stop, but find out first.

Questions

  1. Your firm is bidding for a contract against a larger rival, and the client says your price is 15% higher. They will decide in a week. What do you do?

    1. Make the case on what you do better than the rival
    2. Withdraw now, as the rival is clearly ahead
    3. Cut your price by 15% to match the rival

  2. In a job interview, you fumble the first two technical questions. Three are left, and the panel looks unimpressed. What do you do?

    1. Keep going, and give each question left your full effort
    2. Admit it is not going well, and thank them for their time
    3. Rush through the rest so as not to waste their time

  3. With 15 minutes left in a maths exam, you see that you cannot fully solve the last question, worth 20 marks. What do you do?

    1. Write every step you can, for the method marks
    2. Leave it blank and check your earlier answers
    3. Write a guess at the final answer and stop

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • something I am working on starts to go badly
  • I feel like giving up on a task or a test answer
  • I am behind in a negotiation or a competition

Answers

  1. A. Make the rival prove they are better, on the points where you are strong, such as service, speed or what the whole contract costs to run. Price is one figure in the client's choice, not all of it.
  2. A. Make it hard. When you are behind, do not give in early. Strong answers to the last three leave the panel the most to weigh, and recovering under pressure is something many panels look for.
  3. A. Most exams give marks for method. Partial work gives the examiner something to credit; a blank gives up marks that were there to take.

Idea 22 of 22

Review calmly: decisions, not results

Judge a choice by what you knew, and could have found out, when you made it, not only by how it turned out.

Off the board, it is tempting to judge a choice by how it turned out, so a win means it was good and a loss means it was bad. But luck plays a part. Review calmly. What did you know, what could you reasonably have found out, and was the choice sound given that? Then ask whether the result shows something you missed.

Questions

  1. Your team launched a product after testing it with 200 customers, 80% of whom liked it. A month later, a supplier failure delayed every order, and sales were poor. In the review, what do you ask first?

    1. Was the launch sound on what we knew, and could know?
    2. Who approved the launch, given that it failed?
    3. Should we stop launching without a bigger test?

  2. You organised an outdoor college event after checking a forecast that gave a 10% chance of rain. It rained hard, and half the guests left early. A friend says it was a bad decision. What do you ask first?

    1. Was the choice sound, given the forecast, and was there a backup?
    2. Who chose the outdoor venue, so it does not happen again?
    3. Should every event be held indoors from now on?

  3. You followed a good revision plan for a test but scored 55, because it covered a chapter the teacher had said would not be on it. What do you change for next time?

    1. Keep the plan, but check what the test covers in writing
    2. Study twice as long, since the plan clearly failed
    3. Revise less, as the result came down to luck anyway

To discuss

Where would this help you? For example, when:

  • something I decided turns out badly
  • something turns out well, partly by luck
  • I get back a test, an appraisal or a result

Answers

  1. A. 160 of 200 liking it was good evidence. Ask whether the supplier risk was known, or could have been checked. If it could, that is the lesson. If not, the decision was sound and the result was bad luck.
  2. A. Review calmly: decisions, not results. Judge the choice by what you knew and could have found out. A 10% risk was fair to take. The useful question is whether a backup, such as a tent, was ready in case it came.
  3. A. Sort luck from judgement. The plan was sound, and the surprise chapter was bad luck, but what the test covered could have been checked. Keep what was sound, and fix what was in reach.