When every option has its merits but you can only do ONE – how do you choose the “right” path? Perhaps it’s time to try the fourth of five optimistic approaches to unfuddling your brain. To discover what you want to do, force yourself to make iterative choices between desirable futures.
Paired Choice Comparison Tool
About 20 years ago I arrived at an “aha” moment using a tool called “Paired Comparison”. I needed to understand WHY I wasn’t acting on my long-time desire to go into business for myself.
Ta-da! I learned that I had important financial intentions: Children, college educations, parents who weren’t well, plus the usual mortgage and the financial realities of daily living. I needed, for the time being, to continue earning wages, to nurture my entrepreneurial spirit inside a larger organization.
And Then It Was Time
Five years later, at an unlikely time in my career – my employer was reorganizing and I was offered the choice of several sweet jobs or NO job; my husband underwent an emergency triple heart bypass; and I was faced with a breast cancer scare that required watching and waiting. It was then I realized that my kids were almost finished with college, my parents no longer needed my assistance and my husband and I might have a short or long future in which to live out our dreams. It was time.
Well we’ve both been blessed with many years of entrepreneurial ventures, lots of fun travel to client sites, some terrific business partners, and good times. Heck of a tool this Paired Comparison! I’ve used it to find my way through many a quagmire of choices.
Here’s a Quick Playful Tutorial on Using Paired Comparison as a Decision Tool
1. Start with a blank worksheet that has a table with 6 rows and 6 columns, like the picture below:
2. In the first column, put the 5 options you’re trying to decide among. Just for fun, I put 5 choices for a Friday evening: Dine, Read, Movie, Swim, Bike.
3. Now, decide: If you had to choose between Dining (A) & Reading (B) – which would you choose? I chose Reading instead of Dining, so I put “B” in the cell to the right where the two options intersect.
4. Continue across the row, choosing between ‘A & C’, ‘A & D’, ‘A & E’.
5. In the “B” row you choose between ‘B & C’, ‘B & D’, ‘B & E’.
6. And so on, until you’ve finished the “D” row.
7. Now, count how many times you chose each letter. In my case, I chose Movies (C) 4 times, and it wins my Friday evening vote.
For a detailed explanation of The Paired Comparison Tool, check out MindTools.com.
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