Decisive: How to make better choices in life and work

Just making a decision can be hard enough, but how do you begin to judge whether it's the right one?

In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath draw on decades of psychological research to explain why we so often get it very badly wrong - why our supposedly rational brains are frequently tripped up by powerful biases and wishful thinking. At the same time they demonstrate how relatively easy it is to avoid the pitfalls and find the best answers, offering four simple principles that we can all learn and follow. In the process, they show why it is that experts frequently make mistakes. They demonstrate the perils of getting trapped in a narrow decision frame. And they explore people's tendency to be over-confident about how their choices will unfold.

Drawing on case studies as diverse as the downfall of Kodak and the inspiring account of a cancer survivor, they offer both a fascinating tou through the workings of our minds and an invaluable guide to making smarter decisions.

CHIP HEATH is the Thrive Foundation for Youth Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

DAN HEATH is a consultant to the Aspen Institute. Together, they are the authors of the bestselling Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck and Switch: How to change things when change is hard. They write a regular column in Fast Company magazine, and have appeared on Today, NPR's Morning Edition, MSNBC, CNBC, and have been featured in Time, People and US News and World Report.