LEARN decision skills
Based on a proven model for making better decisions, Decision Skills will make a difference in your life.
Decision Focus
These short animated videos on the principles of Decision Quality carry the core Decision Skills content. Each video has associated activities.
Learning Materials
DEF has high quality physical educational materials and tools to support learning Decision Skills.
Decision Quality
Expand your understanding of how to get more of what you really want by making better decisions.
Decision Chain
Explore the elements of a good decision. Your decision is only as strong as the weakest link.
DEF Programs
Learn how DEF programs support educators in learning and teaching Decision Skills in a way that is relevant, enjoyable, and valuable.
What Are decision skills?
What are they and what's a good decision?
The skills to make good decisions require more than lists of pros and cons.
Good decision-making is an essential life skill most people acquire through trial and error. Few have had the benefit of formal training in decision making or are aware of decision science.
Decision Skills utilize the tools of decision science to help us make better decisions, in part through recognizing and overcoming decision traps people commonly make. The principles and practice of decision quality have been successfully applied in business, medicine, and engineering.
Through our work with teachers, schools, and students, we have witnessed the tremendous value this material brings through helping individuals and groups resolve their toughest dilemmas.
Every individual has important decisions to make and everyone can benefit from making better decisions. DEF delivers Decision Skills in different formats to reach a variety of audiences.
DEF’s approach to decision making enables us to judge the quality of a decision as it is being made. We can apply the ideas and methods presented here as a checklist for simple decisions or as a systematic process for difficult decisions.
Decision Focus Video
What Makes a Good Decision?
Decision versus Outcome
Whether my decision is good or bad depends on how I make it, not on the outcome."
Head and Heart
A good decision requires both head and heart. Decision makers need to ask themselves:
- Does my decision make sense?
- Does my decision feel right?
Decision Quality Framework
To be sure we reach a decision which makes sense and feels right, we need to understand that a good decision has six elements, which are like the links in the Decision Chain.