Decision-making and play-testing (with Dan Epstein)

1. Clarify Personal Values

Understand what your true values are and which ones mean more to you, especially when values conflict. Making decisions aligned with your values is often the best approach.

2. Cultivate Decision Awareness

Practice situational awareness to recognize when you are making decisions, rather than defaulting to habits. This allows you to intervene and consciously choose your actions.

3. Establish Advanced Care Directive

Create an advanced care directive to clearly outline your wishes for medical treatment and end-of-life care. This prevents family conflict and ensures your values guide crucial decisions.

4. Embrace “Playtesting Yourself”

Adopt the ‘playtesting yourself’ mindset, viewing feedback and criticism as opportunities to tweak and improve. This positive lens helps you close feedback loops and strategically enhance yourself.

5. Frame Feedback as Growth

View feedback as an opportunity to become even better, rather than a sign of inadequacy. This mindset helps separate emotional responses from rational improvement.

6. Provide Frequent Positive Feedback

Regularly give positive feedback to others so that occasional negative feedback is received less harshly. This builds relationships and encourages desired behaviors.

7. Apply Mental Stop Sign

When ruminating on minor decisions, hold a ‘mental stop sign’ to pause and assess if the decision warrants significant energy. If not, make any reasonable choice and move on.

8. Don’t Fear “Equally Good” Choices

When faced with two equally good options, understand that any decision will likely be sound because it’s based on a reason. Avoid getting stuck trying to find a ‘better’ choice.

9. Evaluate Inaction as Choice

Actively consider ‘doing nothing’ or ’not making a decision’ as a viable option, especially when faced with bad choices. This can allow for more time, information, or exploration of alternatives.

10. Build a Personal Board of Directors

Formally identify and cultivate a ‘personal board of directors’ or ‘brains trusts’ of mentors and advisors. These trusted individuals offer diverse perspectives and experience for navigating complex decisions.

11. Consult Varied Perspectives

Seek advice from people with diverse viewpoints: those who are generally wise, those with direct lived experience (both positive and negative), and those with genuine expertise. This broadens understanding and mitigates bias.

12. Maintain a Decision Diary

Keep a decision diary to log your mood, feelings, and contextual factors when making important choices. This practice enhances self-awareness and provides data for future reflection.

13. Reflect on Past Decisions

Improve decision-making by systematically reflecting on past choices, understanding options, reasons for selection, and outcome alignment. This creates a feedback loop for continuous learning.

14. Conduct Tabletop Exercises

Utilize tabletop exercises to simulate complex situations with multiple stakeholders, focusing on key dynamics. This practice improves decision-making processes and prepares for unpredictable scenarios.

15. Leverage Games for Simulation

Use games as a unique medium to simulate imaginary worlds, make choices, and experience direct consequences with near-zero risk. This allows for experimentation and learning in a safe sandbox.

16. Clarify Game’s Core Purpose

When designing or using games for educational or behavioral change, clearly define the true aim or purpose first. Avoid simply adding points or leaderboards, which can lead to optimizing for metrics rather than desired behavior.

17. Prioritize Early Playtesting

Conduct playtesting as early and frequently as possible, even with bare-bones concepts, to get the earliest signal on whether your game or system achieves its intended purpose. This identifies flaws before significant investment.

18. Embrace Portfolio Career

Consider a ‘portfolio career’ with different types of work to gain varied perspectives and potentially hedge career impact. This balances assured, positive impact with the pursuit of high-impact opportunities.

19. Value Career Sustainability

Prioritize career longevity and sustainability by balancing emotionally demanding work with other activities that allow for recharge and renewed excitement. This trade-off can prevent burnout and maintain effectiveness.