Put a gun on your brain to decide

Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 11, 2022
A Service Design Principle for quicker decision-making.

“I’m going to ask you a question, and you have 5 seconds to answer. Are you ready?” The team I’m coaching looks at me weirdly but says yes.

Then I ask: “Which idea is the one you should pursue? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” “Tell me!” In a rush, the team members all answer, “The first one! The first one!”.


This weird question helps teams that are blocked in decision-making to feel rushed. It helps their instinct to come out. They shout an answer and then feel relieved.

In French, we have a saying like that: “Sometimes you have to choose between pest and cholera”. How do you choose between two great or equally bad options? How do you decide when you are in analysis paralysis?

Put a gun on your brain and take the decision.

Instead of going with all the rational elements (1), force your mind to go with gut feeling and instinct. And to do that, you must push your rational mind to shut the fuck up.


What if, even with a gun on your head, you can’t answer? Then I say this:

“When is the latest day for you to take this decision without the project going to shit? Have a date? Okay, give me a time and location too”.

Once I have this, I offer the following challenge:

“Choose the latest day for you to take this decision without the project going to shit. Then, if you haven’t decided yet on that date, go outside and ask the first stranger you’ll find to choose for you by flipping a coin.

If rationality and unconscious instinct don’t work, it’s okay to leave it to fate, randomness, the universe or god (2).

What usually happens is that most people don’t want fate or a stranger to decide for them, so they find the energy to decide by themselves.

Footnotes
The first draft of this Service Design Principle was adapted into more understandable English by the lovely Joanna Bienz. Thanks, Joanna!

(1) Here are two classical rational decision-making tools I recommend before using such a technic. First, test the ideas, and you’ll see which one works best. Second, rate them with different criteria (like impact, low effort, fun factor, etc.) and see which one gets the most points.

(2) Pick the one that best suits your belief system.

Daniele’s personal notes
  • You just read the second draft of this Service Design Principle.
  • The length of this principle has been reduced by 43% compared to the first draft.
  • Once improved even more, this principle could be part of the book “Service Design Principles 201-300.”
  • As always, feel free to share comments, feedback or personal stories to improve this principle.

Like
Deleted
Oct 29, 2022
I’m curious if they often say “the first one, the first one!” In a survey design course I was told the first and last item on a list are most memorable. Whatever’s in between turns hazy, so is less likely to be selected. 
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 30, 2022
Thanks for the question JJ :) 
I haven't noticed that they usually say the first one. Most often it's the "obvious" one that comes out. And it's pretty funny to see the sense of relief on their faces when they discover that now they can focus on just one problem hehe.
Daniele Catalanotto
Oct 30, 2022

The third draft of this Service Design Principle

“I’m going to ask you a question, and you have 5 seconds to answer. Are you ready?” The team I’m coaching looks at me weirdly but says yes.

Then I ask: “Which idea is the one you should pursue? 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” “Tell me!” In a rush, the team members all answer, “The first one! The first one!”.

Instead of going with all the rational elements (1), force your mind to go with gut feeling and instinct. And to do that, you must push your rational mind to shut the fuck up.

What if, even with a gun on your head, you can’t answer? Then I say this.

“Choose the latest day for you to decide without the project going to shit. If on that date you haven’t decided yet, go outside and ask the first stranger to decide for you by flipping a coin”. (2)

Most people don’t want fate or a stranger to decide for them, so they find the energy to decide before the deadline.

So let me ask you.

What’s a decision where you could use the “gun on your brain” technic to avoid analysis paralysis?

Footnotes

The first draft of this Service Design Principle was adapted into more understandable English by the lovely Joanna Bienz. Thanks, Joanna!

(1) Here are two classical rational decision-making tools I recommend before using such a technic. First, test the ideas, and you’ll see which one works best. Second, rate them with different criteria (like impact, low effort, fun factor, etc.) and see which one gets the most points.

(2) If rationality and unconscious instinct don’t work, it’s okay to leave it to fate, randomness, the universe or god

Daniele’s notes

  • This is the third draft of this principle.
  • I’ve reduced the length of this principle by 38 % compared to the previous draft.
  • I’ve added a conclusion question to help the reader turn this principle into action.