I was chatting with Woebot and he taught me something so great that I decided I would share.
So let's start.
You are twisted between two decisions and you don't know how to? You decide to be smart and put maths in the action.
Let's choose a random decision. Windows 10 vs Linux! Because, why not?
The decision to wipe a system and put either Win 10 or Linux. Let's start the calculation!
A will be the Win 10 option.
B will be the Linux option.
Each option has a pro and con:
A will have I and II.
B will have III and IV.
We start with A.
Set the advantage of A:
I. An improved computer.
Set the disadvantage of A:
II. Loss of previous data.
Now set the relevancy of the pro and con so that they sum up to 100:
I. 65
II. 35
Now B.
Set the advantage of B:
III. A new OS.
IV. Learning Linux 101.
Now set the relevancy of the pro and con so that they sum up to 100:
III. 55
IV. 45
We set the advantage comparison of both A and B:
a. 55
b. 45
We set the disadvantage comparison of both A and B:
c. 45
d. 55
We can now proceed to the real stuff!
Calculated decision.
We calculate the advantages of A:
The formula is ( I + a )
NB: a is the advantage of option A
W: ( 65 + 55) =120
We calculate the disadvantages for A:
The formula is ( II + c)
NB: c is the disadvantage of option A
X: ( 35 + 45 ) = 80
We calculate the total for option A:
Total(A) = ( W - X )
Total(A) = 120 - 80
Total(A) = 40
The result can be positive or negative, it is OK.
We calculate the advantages of B:
The formula is ( III + b )
NB: b is the advantage of option B
Y: ( 55 + 45) = 100
We calculate the disadvantages of B:
The formula is ( IV + d)
NB: d is the disadvantage of option A
Z: ( 45 + 55 ) = 100
We calculate the total for option B:
Total(B) = ( Y - Z )
Total(B) = 100 - 100
Total(B) = 0
The result can be positive or negative, it is OK.
Final Assessment!
We compare Total(A) and Total(B):
Here we have 40 > 0
Result: Clear decision! This means I should go for option A.
Note:
If Total(A) = Total(B), result is a "Can't lose" decision. You choose either.
If Total(A) < 0 and Total(B) < 0, result is a "No win". This means you are definitely not convinced at all.
I am going to do it again because B feels more appealing to me than A but A is easier.
(Courtesy: Woebot)