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Course Overview: Decision Making Strategies for Exponential Results

In this course, you will learn decision-making strategies used by top CEOs and how to apply them to achieve exponential 10x results. The course covers:

Understanding brain activation during decision making

Identifying optimal brain functions for different types of decisions

Using data for data-driven prioritization decisions

Importance of prioritization in business success

Professionals aiming for leadership positions

Current leaders looking to enhance their decision-making skills

Improving your decision-making skills has a direct impact on your results. This course is crucial for your career growth and is also applicable to everyday life, enhancing your overall quality of life.

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DM - DecisionMakingPromo_2024NICER

Master Decision Making with Strategies from Top CEOs

In this course, you'll learn decision-making strategies used by the top CEOs in the world and be able to apply them to your own decision-making to achieve exponential 10x results. My name is Alexey Nidinik. With 20 years of experience running my own business and a long history as a business coach, I've helped many entrepreneurs with their business strategies. Over the past two decades, I've made high-stakes, low-stakes, and everyday decisions, and I've been a dedicated student of this field.

In this course, I will share everything I've learned, including:

 Understand how emotions influence your decisions.

 Learn about the latest research in neuroscience to understand which parts of the brain are activated during decision-making and how to optimize brain function for different types of decisions.

 Discover strategies for making decisions that yield 10x results, both in the short term and long term, even under stress.

 Learn how to use data to make prioritization decisions, a key to success in business.

Every outcome in your business or life is the result of a decision to pursue it and the follow-up decisions on how to best execute your path to achieving your goals. Improving your decision-making has the most direct impact on your results.

This course is designed for professionals, especially those who want to grow into leadership positions or are already in leadership roles. However, the decision-making strategies taught in this course are also applicable to everyday life, as we all make numerous decisions daily that impact our overall quality of life.

Invest in your future by enrolling today. Let's begin this journey to mastering decision-making and achieving greater results in both your professional and personal life.

20 years of experience running a business

Expertise in high stakes, low stakes, and everyday decision making

Invest in your future. Enroll today and let's begin!

[00:00:00.480 - 00:02:36.410] Speaker A: In this course you'll learn decision making strategies used by the top CEOs in the world and be able to apply it to your own decision making to get exponential 10x results. My name is Alexey Nidinik. I have 20 years of experience running my own business and I'm a long time business coach, having helped many other entrepreneurs with their business strategies. And I've been making high stakes, low stakes, everyday decisions for the last 20 years and I've been a student of this field. So what I'll show you in this course is everything that I've learned starting from the role of emotions in your decision making, to logic to the latest research in neuroscience so that you understand exactly which parts of the brain get activated when and how to know which part of your brain is working and how to know which part of the brain is optimal to make which kind of decisions. We'll also look at making short term decisions, long term decisions that get 10x results, long term and decisions while you're under stress. Because in almost all times when you're in a leadership position, you're under stress and different factors come into play. It's harder to focus on the long term. But we all understand that the long term decisions are the visionary ones that will get you to greater results. But we'll also go far beyond just logic and just emotional intelligence. I'll show you how to use data and make data driven prioritization decisions. Because prioritization is one of the keys to success in your business. Because every single outcome you ever have in your business or life was predicated by a decision to pursue it or not, and number of follow up decisions of how exactly to best execute your path to getting to your goals. And when you improve your decision making, it has the most direct impact on your results. And this course is mostly for people in professional scenarios, especially people who want to grow either into leadership positions or people who are in leadership positions. Now. This kind of decision making is going to be absolutely crucial for your career, but it's also applicable to your everyday life. Because every day we make dozens and dozens of not so important decisions, but some very important decisions. And it's incredibly impactful on our overall quality of life. So invest in your future. Enroll today and let's begin.

3-time bestselling Amazon author, 20 years of successful entrepreneurship experience. 

Passionate instructor caring deeply about helping students

A number of my books are used in major US universities and high schools.

My current professional interests include Emotional Intelligence and productivity. I am constantly exploring ways to accomplish more with less time.

Additionally, I am interested in SEO, digital marketing, and creativity.

Alex Genadinik

One of the best teachers in the world because I teach with my heart. I help people get real results, many of whom have reached 7- and 8-figure businesses that I transparently showcase in my courses.

Business and Entrepreneurship Coach

DM - 001-DecisionMakingWelcome_2025

Welcome to this decision making course. My name is Alex Genadinik and I'll be your instructor. In this video, I'll briefly tell you what to expect from the course and we'll start right away.

This course is going to focus on decision making for the professional environment, specifically for people in leadership roles. Every day, you have to make a number of decisions that are mundane daily decisions, but there are also some big high-stake decisions. We're always under stress, so our decision making is hard to begin with, but when we're under stress, it's even harder. I'll break everything down for you.

This course will also enlighten your decision making in your personal life and level up all your outcomes, which originate from some decision. My name is Alex Ginedinik, and I've been a long-time entrepreneur. I know firsthand the difference between making wrong decisions and giving in to stress, which leads to mediocre business outcomes, versus making better decisions that lead to far greater outcomes.

By the end of this course, you'll level up your decision making like you never imagined before. Welcome, and let's begin.

Introduction to Decision Making

DM - 002-DimasioDecisionMakingEmotional

In this video, we explore a groundbreaking case in neuroscience that reveals the significant role emotions play in our decision-making processes. Contrary to the common belief that we are primarily logical beings with a touch of emotion, science has shown that our decisions are profoundly influenced by our emotions.

The case revolves around a patient known as Elliot, whose life was drastically altered due to a brain tumor that damaged the frontal lobe tissue of his brain. Before the tumor, Elliot was a successful individual with a high IQ, a good job at a business firm, and a fulfilling personal life. However, after the tumor was removed, Elliot's life began to fall apart despite his cognitive abilities remaining intact.

Anthony Damasio, a renowned neuroscientist, studied Elliot's case and discovered that the root of Elliot's problems was a disconnect with his emotions. Damasio found that Elliot's emotional responses were always neutral, even when exposed to emotionally charged images. This lack of emotional guidance left Elliot unable to determine what was good or bad, leading to poor decision-making.

Historically, major philosophers have emphasized the importance of logic in decision-making. However, this case study challenges that notion by highlighting the indispensable role of emotions in guiding our choices. Logic helps us figure out how to achieve our goals, but emotions determine what those goals should be.

For those interested in delving deeper into this fascinating case, the full article is available in the resources section of this video. It provides a comprehensive look at Elliot's story and the groundbreaking work of Anthony Damasio.

This case from neuroscience underscores the profound impact emotions have on our decision-making processes. It challenges the traditional view that logic is the primary driver of our choices and highlights the essential role emotions play in shaping our lives.

Emotional Decision Making

DM - 003-GutReactionVsTakingTimeToDecide

Within the first half-second to one second, your brain produces a gut reaction. This immediate response is driven by the amygdala, a part of your brain responsible for instinctual reactions such as fear and aversion. For example, if you love chocolate and are presented with a choice between chocolate and a green apple, your gut reaction might be to choose the chocolate.

After the initial gut reaction, the prefrontal cortex, which handles logic and reasoning, begins to engage. This part of the brain takes longer to activate but provides a more reasoned approach to decision making. For instance, it might remind you that the apple is healthier despite your initial craving for chocolate.

The Balance Between Quick Decisions and Overthinking

While quick decisions can provide immediate gratification and a dopamine release, taking more time to think about a problem generally increases the likelihood of making the right decision. However, overthinking can lead to indecision, which is a decision in itself—a bad one.

Knowing when to make a decision is crucial. In both life and chess, taking too long can lead to missed opportunities, while acting too quickly can result in poor choices. It's important to find a balance and set a deadline for making your decision.

Effective decision making involves understanding the timeline of your brain's responses, balancing immediate reactions with logical reasoning, and knowing when to act. By giving yourself the right amount of time and resources, and setting a deadline, you can increase your chances of making the right decision in any situation.

Gut Reaction vs Taking Time to Decide

DM - 004-ShortTermStressBasedDecisions

I want to introduce you to a very common decision-making error that I and many others frequently fall into, despite being aware of it. This error often occurs when we are forced into decisions because we are under pressure. We are almost never without pressure; otherwise, we wouldn't be living. Sometimes, pressure escalates to a point where it causes anxiety, stress, and overwhelm. In such moments, we are not in the ideal state to consider our short, medium, and long-term outlooks in a decision.

When faced with short-term pain or problems, many people's natural response is to shut down or focus solely on fixing the immediate issue. This reaction is quite physiological and often leads to short-term solutions that aim to alleviate the immediate pain. Even though we are aware of the need to evaluate the midterm and long-term ramifications of our decisions, it can be challenging to think clearly in those stressful moments. This often results in imperfect decisions.

Many years ago, I started a YouTube channel. At that time, I was restarting my business and looking for new opportunities. Financially, things were tough, and I needed the videos to generate income quickly due to financial stress. Instead of taking the time to research how to present better, film better, improve audio, and create more entertaining and higher-quality videos, I focused on producing as many videos as possible. The right decision would have been to invest time in improving the quality of my content, which would have yielded better long-term results.

Because I was overwhelmed by financial stress, I kept making videos without a long-term plan. I knew how to make another video, and it was easy, but I couldn't bring myself to stop and think about what would make my videos better in five or ten years. As a result, the videos were mediocre, and most of them have since faded into obscurity. Had I had a long-term vision and managed to overcome the stress, I would have created much better videos with more long-term potential.

This is a common pitfall that many of us fall into when we feel overwhelmed and stressed. Simply being aware of this error can help us avoid it to some extent. While it may not be possible to avoid it entirely, awareness can reduce the frequency with which we fall into this trap.

By understanding and recognizing this decision-making error, we can strive to make more balanced and well-considered decisions, even under pressure.

Short-Term Stress-Based Decisions

DM - 005-DontDecideWhenOptimistic

A common scenario is feeling good after a workout due to the release of endorphins. This heightened state can lead to overly generous decisions, such as agreeing to larger discounts in work-related emails. Upon reflection, these decisions may not seem wise.

The Danger of Excitement in Business Ideas

Excitement can provide an initial burst of motivation and a positive outlook. However, it can also create a blind spot to the challenges and hard work required to turn an idea into a successful long-term business. This can result in underestimating the difficulties and overestimating the ease of implementation.

Just as you should avoid making decisions when angry or fearful, you should also be cautious about making decisions when excited. Enjoy the positive emotions, but wait until you can gather feedback and think rationally. Use your prefrontal cortex to evaluate the pros and cons thoroughly before making important long-term decisions.

Always aim for clear-headed, long-term thinking when making significant decisions.

Decision Making: Avoid Optimism Bias

DM - 006-SapolskiCourtStudy

The study examined the decision patterns of judges overseeing court cases. Researchers observed that judges were more likely to give negative judgments or harsher sentences when they were hungry. This phenomenon was particularly noticeable around noon or 11 AM, times when people typically start feeling hungry and uncomfortable.

The study's findings have significant implications, especially considering the potential impact on people's lives. For instance, harsher sentences before lunch could affect traffic tickets or even more serious cases like jail time.

The speaker shares a personal experience to illustrate the impact of mood on decision-making:

Understanding the impact of mood on decision-making is crucial, especially in important situations involving other people. Being aware of how emotions and physical states influence our actions can help us make more informed and fair decisions.

Stay mindful of your emotions and how they might be affecting your judgments, especially in critical situations.

Sapolski Court Study Analysis

DM - 007-EisenhowerBoxIntro

I want to introduce you to the Eisenhower box, sometimes called the Decision Matrix or Dr. Covey's Matrix because it was popularized in Dr. Covey's productivity book. Regardless of the name, the concept remains the same. You create a grid of four quadrants, as shown below:

Create an empty Eisenhower box and categorize your tasks for the day, week, month, or year. This exercise will help you identify tasks that can be eliminated and allow you to focus on the most important tasks.

While the Eisenhower box is a powerful tool, it is important to remember that not all tasks are created equal. Some important tasks may take longer to complete than others. Prioritize tasks based on the resources they require. In future videos, we will explore more complex ways to use this matrix.

The Eisenhower box is a decades-old tool that remains widely used due to its effectiveness in improving productivity. By using this matrix, you can achieve a better work-life balance and focus on tasks that yield the best results. Try this exercise for yourself and stay tuned for more in-depth discussions in upcoming videos.

Introduction to the Eisenhower Box

DM - 009-HappinessPsychology_2023

Since we've covered the Eisenhower decision matrix and we know that we need to divide things between important and not important, the next question is, well, what's important? One of the key ways to answer that is to consider what makes us happy.

According to an article from Psychology Today, there are three main factors that contribute to a person's happiness:

The article also notes a couple of things that can make us unhappy:

Applying Happiness Factors to the Eisenhower Matrix

When filling out your Eisenhower matrix, ensure that the top three happiness factors are included in the important areas. It's not just about business tasks; your family, mental health, and a stable environment are also crucial.

Everyone's needs are different. For example:

Make sure to tailor your schedule to include what you need to be happy.

Balancing these factors will help you determine what is important and should be included in the important areas of your Eisenhower matrix. This balance is key to achieving happiness and fulfillment.

Happiness Psychology

DM - 010-DecisionMakingOfPaulGraham_2

In this video, we explore how the potency and potential amplitude of your decisions can help you realize your goals, regardless of how great they are. We will use the case study of Paul Graham to illustrate this concept.

Paul Graham is one of the most successful and respected individuals in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of Y Combinator, the largest startup incubator in the world. Y Combinator has helped launch over a thousand startups, including well-known companies like Dropbox and Airbnb. Graham's influence and thought leadership in the startup world are immense.

Paul Graham began his career as a software engineer, not as a businessperson. He co-founded a company called Viaweb, which was eventually sold to Yahoo for nearly $50 million. Despite this success, Graham did not become a billionaire from this exit. The $50 million was divided among co-founders, investors, and employees, leaving Graham with a smaller portion.

In 1998, Graham was a successful entrepreneur but not yet a standout figure in Silicon Valley. He gained further recognition through his insightful essays, which are available online for free and have helped many new entrepreneurs, including the speaker of this video.

In 2005, Graham, along with his wife and a few partners, founded Y Combinator. This decision was pivotal. Instead of starting another company, Graham chose to create an incubator that would support numerous startups. This decision had monumental potential and led to Y Combinator investing in over 1300 startups.

The key idea of this video is to emphasize the importance of decision-making in goal setting. By choosing paths that have the potential for greater impact, like Paul Graham did with Y Combinator, you can leapfrog and accomplish much more. Consider the amplitude of your decisions and aim for those that can lead to monumental success.

Decision Making of Paul Graham

DM - 011-DecisionMakingOfElonMusk

Let's contrast the decision-making approaches of Paul Graham and Elon Musk. While Elon Musk can be a controversial figure, our focus is on his decision-making as a CEO and how he achieved his goals to become one of the richest and most influential people in the world.

Elon Musk started as an engineer and created Tesla without taking outside investment. This decision allowed him to retain a significant ownership stake in the company, contributing to his wealth. Musk's approach involves tremendous risk-taking and pushing the boundaries in various fields, including:

Musk's strategy is characterized by extreme risk, which is not for everyone but has led to revolutionary advancements.

Paul Graham, on the other hand, is known for his outside-the-box, savvy thinking. He is the founder of Y Combinator, a startup incubator that has set the standard for many others that followed. Graham's approach involves:

Graham's strategy focuses on creating significant impact through innovative and strategic thinking, leading to substantial advancements in the startup ecosystem.

Both approaches highlight different ways to set and achieve lofty goals by tackling challenging projects with unique strategies.

Decision Making of Elon Musk

DM - 012-JeffBezosThinking

Let's examine how Jeff Bezos thinks and he thinks long term. I'll have the link to this article, if you'd like, in the resources of this video so you can click it and go and read this whole article by yourself. But what I would like to point your attention to and what I think is the most important takeaway of this article is this quote here. I'll read it to you:

> "If everything you do needs to work on a three year time horizon, then you're competing against a lot of people. But if you're willing to invest on a seven year time horizon, you're now competing against a fraction of those people because very few companies are willing to do that."

Now if I was to ask you, what's your vision? Like a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, they struggle in the short term. Today something's not working. It's very frustrating. Well, three years for most people is quite long term. But Jeff Bezos actually sees that as a low bar. You see, he is operating on a seven year vision. And by the way, I've also seen similar articles about Mark Zuckerberg and a lot of other very successful business owners and entrepreneurs. They work on a hyper long term time horizon because that allows them to not get lost in the day to day the short term and plan and work on more groundbreaking revolutionary projects and actually do better at them.

So I just wanted to drive this point home about the long term thinking and not over focusing on the short term because the long term is where most of the successful entrepreneurs succeeded.


Note: The article mentioned in this video is no longer available.

Jeff Bezos' Thinking Strategies

DM - 013-DecisionMakingInfographic_2

In this lesson, we will explore an insightful infographic that illustrates the profound impact of decision making on the quality of life in both the short and long term. This infographic was discovered on Twitter and provides a clear visualization of how our choices shape our future.

The infographic highlights the following key points:

This infographic serves as a powerful reminder of how our daily choices impact our future. By visualizing the consequences of our decisions, it emphasizes the importance of making hard choices early on to ensure a better quality of life in the long term. Reflect on your own decision-making patterns and consider how you can make choices that will benefit you in the future.

Decision Making Infographic

DM - 013-DisagreeButCommit

In this video, we explore a technique for collaborative brainstorming and decision making used by Jeff Bezos at Amazon and his other companies. This method is particularly useful in meetings where different experts are present, and it helps in making decisions efficiently without causing stagnation.

By using the 'Disagree but Commit' technique, you can enhance collaborative decision making, trust in expertise, and maintain momentum in your projects and initiatives.

Disagree But Commit

DM - 013.2-JeffBezosStrategyOfJuniorPeopleSpeakFirst

Collaborative Decision Making Strategy: Speaking Order in Brainstorming Meetings

In this video, I want to introduce you to a very common and popular strategy and technique for collaborative decision making. This is a method used by a number of Fortune 500 companies, and even Jeff Bezos is very famous for employing it.

Imagine you're in a meeting, specifically a brainstorming meeting. If you're Jeff Bezos in the meeting, who's going to argue with Jeff Bezos? Of course, he surrounds himself with very smart people who are not afraid to argue with him. However, subconsciously, because he's incredibly authoritative, people will be influenced by him. Their opinions will change if he speaks first.

To counteract this, Jeff Bezos speaks last. The way that opinions and speaking are ordered is crucial. They start with the most junior person first, then the second most junior talks, the third most junior talks, and eventually, Jeff Bezos talks last. This method ensures that authoritative points of view do not make people feel like they are right by default.

This strategy is designed to prevent authoritative figures from subconsciously or consciously swaying the opinions of others. Even if you think you still have your own opinion, hearing Jeff Bezos' or your manager's opinion first would likely influence you to some degree. Because authoritative figures have trust and people are used to listening to them intently, their opinions can bias others.

By allowing everyone to voice their opinions in order, you ensure that you hear their true perspectives without undue influence. This leads to more genuine and diverse input during brainstorming sessions.

Jeff Bezos Strategy: Junior People Speak First

DM - 013.3-TwoWayDecisionsAndDecisionSpeed

In business, decision making is crucial. Rapid decision making is often beneficial because every decision acts as an experiment. The more experiments you conduct, the more you learn and the further your business progresses. Some experiments will succeed, while others will fail. However, the faster you go, the more you learn. It's important to balance speed with accuracy to avoid setbacks.

For reversible decisions, it's beneficial to empower lower-level or junior staff to make decisions. This allows the organization to move quickly without unnecessary escalation. However, they should still consult with managers and other employees as needed.

Understanding the difference between irreversible and reversible decisions helps in knowing when to move quickly and when to be deliberate. This balance is key to driving innovation and productivity in your business or professional work.

Two-Way Decisions and Decision Speed

DM - 013.4-Compromise

When you're in a disagreement, negotiating, or trying to make a decision, there's the option of compromise. Compromise is a very polarizing term; some people say compromise is great, while others say it is horrible. In this lesson, we will explore both sides of compromise, examining when it is good, why it is good, when it is bad, and how and when to use it or avoid it.

Compromise means agreeing to something that may not be the absolute truth or your personal truth, but you accept it because it preserves relationships, adds agreement, and helps you move forward. For example, when working with a team, you might not want excessive disagreement. Sometimes, you might think your way is right, but you don't know for certain. In ambiguous situations where the future is unpredictable, compromise can be a useful tool.

Humans have a natural tendency to compromise to avoid conflict and preserve good standing with others. This tendency stems from our evolutionary past, where survival was more likely within a group. However, it is important to recognize when compromise is not the best option and to communicate effectively with your partners to reach the truth.

Compromise can be beneficial in preserving relationships and aiding decisiveness, especially when continuous arguments lead to stagnation. However, it is crucial to assess the importance of truth in each situation and decide accordingly. By understanding when to use and avoid compromise, you can make better decisions in your conversations, debates, and decision-making processes.

Understanding Compromise in Decision Making

DM - 013.5-IndecisivenessIntroduction

It's important to recognize that not making a decision is, in itself, a decision, and it often leads to undesirable outcomes. Decisiveness, even if not always accurate, is generally preferable to indecisiveness.

Indecisiveness can stem from various causes, including:

We will delve into strategies to manage and overcome indecision based on its various causes. Stay tuned as we explore these methods in detail.

Let's begin our journey to understanding and overcoming indecision.

Introduction to Indecisiveness

DM - 013.6-StrategiesForHandlingIndecision

When it comes to indecision, it's important to distinguish between immediate decisions and those that allow for more time. Immediate decisions, such as deciding which way to step to avoid an oncoming bus, require quick, decisive action. In contrast, intermediate and long-term decisions, like choosing what to eat for dinner when it's still breakfast, allow for more thoughtful consideration.

By following these strategies and tools, you can effectively overcome indecision and make more thoughtful, informed decisions.

Strategies for Handling Indecision

DM - 013.7-IndecisionDueToStressAndOverwhelmRationalDecision

Making decisions can be incredibly difficult under such pressure, often leading to a state of paralysis. Here, we explore some strategies to manage stress and make better decisions.

The key is to find the sweet spot of stress where your work feels interesting and challenging but not overwhelming. This optimal level of stress allows you to make progress and feel good about your work.

While these strategies won't solve all stress-related issues, they can help manage indecision caused by stress in many cases. Remember, stress is a complex topic, and people handle it differently. However, understanding your stress limits and managing tasks effectively can significantly reduce feelings of overwhelm and improve decision-making.

Try these strategies if you're experiencing indecision due to stress and see how they work for you.

Managing Indecision from Stress and Overwhelm

DM - 013.8-IndecisionFromFearOfRejection

Fear of rejection can be incredibly crippling if you let that mindset take over. Here are some strategies to help you manage and overcome this fear.

The first step is to reframe the situation. Instead of focusing on the negative outcomes, think about what you can learn from the experience. For example:

Disassociate Your Identity from the Outcome

It's important to disassociate your personal identity from the outcome. If you get rejected, it doesn't mean you are incompetent or not good at something. There are many variables at play, and often, the outcome has nothing to do with you personally.

A growth mindset is crucial for overcoming fear of rejection. This mindset involves believing that with hard work and effort, you can improve and achieve your goals. Here are some key points:

Overcoming Indecision from Fear of Rejection

DM - 014-EmythDecisionMakingForSystems

In this video, I want to introduce you to the decision making you have to do throughout the lifetime of your business, starting from before you started to the long term, when it's big and successful. And I want to reference a very fundamental and core entrepreneurship book, the E. Myth, and a recent version, the E. Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber. It's a very popular book. It was released in the 80s, hugely popular. I don't have any kind of business relationship with that book, but it's one of the core fundamental books. It looks at your entrepreneurship journey in three phases: when you start your business, when you become the operator, and when you create business systems.

When you start a business, let's say you're good at cooking. And you think to yourself, I'm good at cooking, so I should open a restaurant. But a person who is good at cooking, you see, they're not really good at managing a restaurant. Or at least there's no sign that they have any experience managing a restaurant, hiring, buying supplies, doing customer service, and dozens of other things that are needed to run that business. So at first, the operator of the business has to pick a business that they actually will be able to perform well in. Because if you just perform well in a tiny part of the business but don't have experience in a lot of that business, it's actually a wrong decision. So that's the first decision. Pick a business. It's not a hundred percent necessary decision, but it's a very helpful one if you can pull it off. Pick a business to which you can bring a lot, because in the beginning you'll have to manage a lot of it.

In the beginning, you have to wear many hats, do many jobs, you just can't afford to hire. Once you start getting this business up and running, you start to create business systems. What that means is instead of you being there in your restaurant, for example, all the time, you buying all the supplies, you doing customer support, you washing dishes in the back, you cooking, handling everything, at some point you start to have to hire and train others so that let's say instead of you there's a manager, and instead of you there's a buyer for supplies. And instead of you there's a chef. And instead of you, there is a waiter, staff. And so you get to step back. And as long as that manager replaces you well and manages everybody else well, and everything is running as a smooth system, then you've got a system, essentially.

You can take a step back, perhaps open another restaurant, another restaurant, another restaurant, as long as you keep on building such systems. And when you have many restaurants, you need also a system to manage restaurants. That's why you have these regional managers, so that one person can manage maybe five restaurants. And then all of a sudden you went from you haven't studied your business to having this amazing system where you're kind of on cruise control. All you're doing is just opening new restaurants and then hiring great managers who hire great staff and running the place well, etc. That's what you want.

So how does this impact your decision making? You see, throughout each phase of this process, you have to know where the goal post is. You can't just outsource. Outsource in the beginning, not going to work. First you got to make the decisions in order for yourself to understand that business well from the ground up. Understand every job so you can hire well, so you can evaluate employees. Then when you create certain benchmarks, like an employee should wait 2 tables per shift or 10 tables per shift. You know, once you have those metrics and you only really get them when you get your hands dirty, then you start to hire. And then you see, okay, a restaurant should do a million dollars in revenue. If you hire a manager, that will be their goal. And so you can hire and so you can evaluate your managers and everybody you hire building systems. So that's how you decide every step along the way what you should do so that you can build a business system. Because ultimately you want a business system. In the beginning, you want to be a lot more manual. Even though it's not attractive to many people, that's just how it tends to work out. I know it's very glorified to outsource everything right away, but the practical way it works out is this particular trajectory. And I wanted to outline it just because it really highlights the different decisions and the dimensions and the implications of these decisions throughout the lifetime of a business, if you're the CEO.

E-myth Decision Making for Systems

DM - 030-TimeManagementWithSheetsSectionIntroduction_2024

In this section, we will transition to a data-driven approach for decision making and prioritization. This method eliminates the need for guessing or estimating, allowing us to allocate our time more effectively based on factual data.

Without a data-driven approach, decision making is often based on assumptions and guesses, which can lead to inaccuracies and errors. For example, deciding whether to spend time on YouTube or writing a book without knowing the exact time investment and potential returns can be inefficient.

I will share a real case study from my business to illustrate this approach. Using Google Sheets or Excel, I documented all tasks, the hours they took, and the revenue they generated. This visualization helped me make clear decisions about which business initiatives to continue, scale back, or eliminate.

This approach is not limited to business owners. It is equally applicable to employees who often face an increasing number of tasks. By identifying and prioritizing the most important tasks, you can manage your workload more effectively.

Decision making as a technology leader

Course Overview: Decision Making Strategies for Exponential Results

What You Will Learn

Types of Decisions Covered

Beyond Logic and Emotional Intelligence

Target Audience

Why This Course Matters

Lessons

Welcome

Decision making matrix

How top CEOs make their decisions

Compromise

Avoiding Indecision

E-myth

Time Management

Wrong Decisions

Launching Products or Businesses

Confidence

Sleep

Importance of Time

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

Split Second Decision Making

About the trainer

Change your future with leadership skills