Give a big decision a little more thought.
The Better Decisions Toolkit
A reusable workbook for comparing options, exposing assumptions and deciding what would change your mind.
Free complete workbook · 14-page fillable PDF · No signup
Related reading: Billionaire Bookshelf · Included in membership
The library is opening…Leave with something
you can use.
A completed decision brief, an options comparison and a journal you can reuse when the next choice appears.
For people weighing a project, a hire, a purchase or another decision with meaningful trade-offs.
Actual workbook page · first exercise
A clear path
through the task.
- Name the decision you actually face
- Create a real alternative
- Choose the criteria before the favorite
- Separate facts from assumptions
- Imagine the choice going wrong
- Compare and test sensitivity
- Record the choice and review it
- A completed example to follow
- Your decision brief
- Your options comparison and journal
- 32 fillable spaces for your own work
Time to allow: Seven short exercises; use them on one real decision.
Try the first
exercise. Free.
No email needed. Read the instructions, then make a first attempt below.
Your answers stay in this page and are not submitted to Readrr. Download your notes before leaving.
Name the decision you actually face
A decision brief separates the objective from the first solution that came to mind. Write the choice, deadline and what happens if you do nothing. Make the commitment size visible before choosing a method.
- Complete: "By [date], I need to choose [decision] so that [objective]."
- List the practical constraints, who is affected and who has decision authority.
- State the cost of delay and whether the choice can be reversed.
Example. The task is to improve collaboration within a budget, not necessarily to rent an office.
Examine the reasoning behind your choice.
Use your decision brief to identify a missing perspective, a judgment error worth checking or an estimate that needs more evidence.
Inside Billionaire Bookshelf
These independent reading companions are included in Readrr membership.
- 1
What am I failing to consider?
The Great Mental Models Volume 1
Examine the decision through more than one model, including inversion and second-order effects.
Keep in view: A model simplifies reality; check its assumptions against the situation.
Find the volume - 2
Which error could distort this choice?
Judgment in Managerial Decision Making
Examine predictable judgment errors and consider a practical check for your decision process.
Keep in view: Knowing a bias exists does not reliably remove it.
Find the volume - 3
How much should I trust this estimate?
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Question an intuitive estimate before a consequential commitment.
Keep in view: Read individual research claims with attention to their evidence and later scrutiny.
Find the volume
Compare the perspectives.
The Great Mental Models encourages several lenses. Judgment in Managerial Decision Making examines predictable errors. Thinking, Fast and Slow questions intuitive judgment. Bring a useful question from each perspective back to the same decision.
Bring it back to your worksheet.
Return to your decision brief: add a credible alternative, question the assumption most likely to change your choice and record a review trigger before committing.
A suggested reading route from Readrr. The toolkit remains free. All five interactive collections and Workspace are included for $9/month, $99 once for 12 months, or $199 for lifetime access. Original books are not included.
Make a start.
Keep the tools.
A completed decision brief, an options comparison and a journal you can reuse when the next choice appears.
A structured process cannot remove uncertainty or replace qualified advice for medical, legal, financial or other specialist decisions.
The Better Decisions Toolkit
FreeThe complete workbook. Yours to use.
14-page fillable PDF. Seven exercises. One completed example. Two reusable templates.
Download the complete PDFDownload instantly. No email address, account or payment required. Save a copy before adding your answers.