You're in your neighborhood bookstore looking for a title about " social media." Do you immediately buy the first book on the first shelf of the business section? Probably not.

You visit a new restaurant for a tasty dinner, do you ignore the rest and only order the top item at the top of the menu? I don't believe you would.

In both situations, before making a decision, you would first review all your options. You'd scan each of the books in the marketing section. You would read the entire menu. Then, from that full selection of offerings, make the best choice.

We appreciate and expect variety and choice with these decisions, but often when making bigger, more financially critical decisions at work, deny ourselves.

In the name of efficiency, when faced with problems or challenges at work, we go forward with the first workable option we can think of. Business pressure, to get things done quickly and efficiently, causes us to miss key opportunities. This can cause us to miss the best solution.

If you go with the first, only idea you have, that isn't decision-making. That's a last resort. Decisions require choosing from a pool of options. Selecting among two alternative ideas isn't a decision either---it is only choosing this or don't do this.

A wise person once shared with me, "Decisions improve in proportion to the number of interesting, attractive, and doable alternatives you have to consider."

We must pile up a list of unusable ideas. The more ideas you think up, the more likely you are to arrive at one that is brilliant and remarkable.

Even if you think you've happened upon the best idea right from the start, you should think up a few more. Picking one idea from a pool of one isn't a choice. Don't stop at the first one that seems to fit. Keep thinking. Come up with at least two more ideas for a total of three to choose from.

If that first idea is the one you go with, you can have the confidence that you've made a choice. That you weren't just forced into using the first idea that popped into you mind.

Choice and options, when it comes to important decisions, isn't a luxury, but a requirement. The next time you or your team start moving with the first idea that pops into mind, entertain other options. You deserve the right to decide, not simply be forced with an approach due to haste. Brainstorm a few more workable ideas. You deserve choices. Remarkable ideas spring from choices.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi there!

I'm Paul Williams... guest writer on Daily Fix and founder of Idea Sandbox.

I'm a professional problem solver. Through brainstorm facilitation I help people create remarkable ideas to grow their business. As one client put it, “Idea Sandbox turns brains into idea machines.”

Prior to launching Idea Sandbox in 2005, I spent 15 years building marketing, branding, and customer-experience strategy for The Disney Company, the Aramark Corporation, and Starbucks Coffee Company.

I founded Idea Sandbox driven by my passion to help others create remarkable ideas. I blend the skills and lessons I have learned to build a sandbox---an idea sandbox.

You can reach me on Twitter via @IdeaSandbox.

Through Idea Sandbox, I have helped solve challenges, grow brands, think-up remarkable ideas, and create innovation for companies including: Starbucks Coffee Company, Starbucks Coffee International, Panera Bread Company, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Woodhouse Day Spas, The Microsoft Corporation, and Wells Fargo Mortgage.

I am a writer, speaker, columnist, and brainstormer living just outside Washington DC, in Alexandria, Virginia.

If you like what you've read here, you can find more of my thoughts at my Idea Sandbox blog.

I always welcome comments and reactions to what I've written. I'm on Twitter: @IdeaSandbox

Nice to meet you,


Paul