We all believe that to make a good decision you need to take your time, carefully create and consider all the options and then make a final choice. This is what many people consider the ideal decision-making process. Yet in the real world when:

- Time is short

- Perfect information is not available

- You do not know the full impact of your possible decisions and/or

- And you do not know what your competitors might do.

Then is spending more and more time on a decision a smart and effective thing to do?

My experience is that it is not particularly for day-to-day decisions. In these circumstances when tine is short and the implications of a decision are not far-reaching and the risk is relatively low than you are much better off making a quick decision (what’s more if it does not work out as you intended than you can quickly make another one).

But how can you improve your chances of success? Here where an intention to make a decision and practicing making decisions is important. But often this is not enough. You will need a range of decision-making tools. I have listed one of these below:

The tool is called My Heroes:

Step 1. In the next two minutes list nine heroes of yours. These could be your dad or President Obama etc.

Step 2: Then select one of these at random and think about the decision in front of you. What decision would your hero make in these circumstances?

Step 3: Select another hero and repeat the process. Remember to really become that person.

Step 4: Keep repeating this exercise until you feel ready to make a decision. Often there is a consensus among your heroes on what to do.

Using this decision-making tool you will great enhance your chances of making a good decision in minutes.