Cover of Decisive

Decisive

How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

by Chip Heath, Dan Heath · first published 2013

9mentions
6recommended by
6HN commenters
2014–2022first – last mentioned

100% recommend

Why HN recommends it

Practical guide to decision making with concrete techniques like the WARP framework: widen options, reality-test assumptions, attain distance, prepare to be wrong. Suits anyone wanting a usable framework.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

The four principles that can help us to overcome our brains' natural biases to make better, more informed decisions – in our lives, careers, families and organizations. In Decisive, Chip Heath and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Made to Stick and Switch, tackle the thorny problem of how to overcome our natural biases and irrational thinking to make better decisions, about our work, lives, companies and careers.

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mentions per year

20 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 0 mentions2011: 0 mentions2012: 0 mentions2013: 0 mentions2014: 1 mention2015: 0 mentions2016: 1 mention2017: 2 mentions2018: 1 mention2019: 0 mentions2020: 0 mentions2021: 1 mention2022: 1 mention2023: 0 mentions2024: 0 mentions2025: 0 mentions2026: 0 mentions200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • duncanawoods · Aug 14, 2014 · Recommends

    I am building a product for you. In the meantime, I can recommend the book "Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work" by Chip & Dan Heath. Its not self-helpy but very practical and succinctly lays out a set of useful techniques. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Decisive-make-better-choices-life/dp...…

  • afarrell · Aug 26, 2018 · Recommends

    …your thoughts around the situation so that you can be confident in exercising your own judgment. Books which are good for helping lay out such a mental framework include: - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decisive-How-Make-Better-Decisions/... - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Too-Good-Leave-Bad-Stay/dp/07181417...

    on “If you’re unsure whether to quit your job or break up, you probably should” ↗
  • awkwardengineer · Sep 8, 2022 · Recommends

    highly recommend a few books if you haven't read them yet. plenty of of ideas to steal from there: from "Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work" https://www.amazon.com/Decisive-Make-Better-Choices-Life/dp/..., you might be presenting a false choice at the top. Is there a feature to prompt people to…

    on “Make better decisions with fewer online meetings” ↗
  • scottbartell · May 26, 2017 · Recommends

    As you make your decision, you might want to consider applying the WARP decision framework from Decisive by Chip & Dan Heath[0]: 1. Widen your options 2. Reality-test your assumptions 3. Attain distance before deciding 4. Prepare to be wrong The heath brothers offer a useful workbook[1] that goes into…

    on “Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore” ↗
  • lukeHeuer · Apr 29, 2016 · Recommends

    It'd be worthwhile to invest in a skill you (hopefully) use for everything: decision making. A good follow up to Managing Oneself, which it sounds like you've read, is Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath. To borrow a few direct example questions that might help you answer your own: What are some non-technical skills that would improve…

    on “Ask HN: What is the best non-technical skill I could develop?” ↗
  • afarrell · May 12, 2018 · Recommends

    I found the following books presented useful mental models: - Thinking Fast and Slow - Decisive by Chip & Dan Heath - Thanks for the Feedback - Difficult Conversations

    on “Ask HN: Resources for critical thinking and communication skills?” ↗
  • afarrell · May 22, 2018 · Recommends

    Book recommendation: Decisive by Chip & Dan Heath Its a book about how to make better decisions more confidently, both as an individual and as a group. It has a clear framework that presents actionble tips and exercises you can apply…

    on “Ask HN: How do you make life's decisions?” ↗
  • armagon · Mar 26, 2021 · Recommends

    …representation of thought" discusses how knowledge work has been constrained to rectangles and we should move beyond it and engage our whole bodies. - I highly recommend all the books by Dan and Chip Heath. "Decisive" is on making decisions. "Upstream" is on solving root problems, and not just symptoms. "Made to Stick" is about spreading ideas and having them be remembered. - "Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin…

    on “Ask HN: Which book/essay changed your life?” ↗
  • afarrell · Nov 23, 2017 · Mentions

    …Books which also discuss the skill of listening include: * Difficult Conversations, by the Harvard Negotiation Project * Thanks for the Feedback, by the Harvard Negotiation Project * and a bit of Decisive, by Chip & Dan Heath Though the other things it says about decision-making processes are likely more useful, since persuasion involves influencing decision-making Lastly, because both listening and…

    on “Ask HN: What are the recommended books on Social Influence?” ↗

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Focus search
j / k
Next / previous book
Enter
Open focused book
Esc
Close / go back
g h
Go to Home
g t
Go to Top all-time
g m
Go to Most recommended
g r
Go to Rising
g f
Go to For You
?
Show this help