chaalwise

Where to start

Pick the one that sounds like you. Each is five or six short lessons and labs, about an hour in all, in any order you like. Then try the ideas together in a work case: a short story of linked decisions.

You run a team or an organisation

Most of your decisions meet another side: a client, a rival, your own people. Start with their reply, then trust, then bargaining.

  1. Their next moveThink through how the other side will respond, as they see it, not as you hope.
  2. The blunder checkBefore you act, ask what could go wrong, and look at what the other side can do first.
  3. Prisoner's Dilemma labCooperation pays when you will meet again, nobody knows which round is the last, and the other side answers in kind.
  4. Split the pie labKnow your walk-away point and theirs before you bargain: the deal lies between them.
  5. Review calmly: decisions, not resultsJudge a choice by what you knew, and could have found out, when you made it, not only by how it turned out.

You want to get on at work

Others notice who checks before committing, puts effort where it counts and stays steady after a setback.

  1. Not so fastBefore you push on with your plan, ask what the other side wants, and stop it before it starts.
  2. Spend effort where it mattersTime and attention are limited. Decide small choices you can undo quickly, and spend your effort on the few that are large and final.
  3. Lead or answer wellMove 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.
  4. Rule finder labTo find out whether you are right, include tests that would prove you wrong, not only ones that would confirm you.
  5. Review calmly: decisions, not resultsJudge a choice by what you knew, and could have found out, when you made it, not only by how it turned out.

You are a student

Exams, projects and choices about what to study reward counting before you commit, breaking work into steps and testing your own ideas.

  1. Count it throughFollow a chain of consequences to the end before you agree to the first step.
  2. Small steps that stickEach step should leave fewer ways for things to go wrong, and the last step needs as much care as the first.
  3. A plan, step by stepTurn a goal into a route of small steps, each worth having on its own, and look again after each one.
  4. Rule finder labTo find out whether you are right, include tests that would prove you wrong, not only ones that would confirm you.
  5. Which bag? labStart from how common something is, then adjust for what you see. And a streak of luck usually ends.
  6. Finish the jobA winning position is not a win until it is finished. The last steps need as much care as the first.

Running a session for a team or a class?

The printable pack has every strategy idea on its own page, with questions to answer on paper and an answer key. And before you promise anyone results, read Does this transfer?