# Establish Correct Automatic Behaviors ## 1. Summary **Problem** **Answer** **Automatic Behavior** > Determine the automatic behaviors in advance so you don't need to decide in the moment. ## 2. Arguments and Context When climbing Mount Everest the most dangerous part is not getting to the top, it is getting down. So much focus and energy is spent getting to the top that even if climbers are running out of oxygen they keep pushing towards the top; they are lost in summit fever. They forget that the *most important thing* isn't making it to the top, it is making it *home*. You can't win if you don't survive. The climber's thinking is no longer at their best, but clouded due to a variety of reasons. We need to *leverage our thinking when we are at our best* in order to increase our chances of success. We can create automatic behaviors to decide how our future selves are going to respond when things get hard or go off track. When you try to decide at the moment the situation changes and you most need to think, you will *not* put yourself on the path to success. > We need to *leverage our best thinking* and make decisions *in advance*. We need to create **automatic behaviors**. In the case of Everest, the best climbers decide *in advance* when they are going to turn around. We can use this in our daily lives too! We can create *automatic rules* that we follow so that we don't need to make decisions. In a sense we are *outsourcing* certain decisions to our past selves when we were at our best. We can create a situation of optimal decision making (fresh coffee, a good night sleep, good music, low stress etc), *decide* how we should handle a certain type of decision going forward, and then our future self simply needs to *go through the motions*! Our future self simply needs to *act*. ## Creating Automatic Behaviors #### Tripwires > Tripwire: Deciding in advance to take a course of action when you hit a specific quantifiable time amount or circumstance. For climbing Everest it could be that if you don't reach a specific location by a specific time, you turn around, no questions asked. A tripwire can be created to go off if there are clear negative signs, but also if there is an *absence* of positive signs. This is where decisions get challenging. If you don't see positive signs while you are moving towards your goal it is time to *reevaluate*. Is the most important thing still the most important thing? Were you wrong? What will it take you reach your goals now that you have less time, but not as much expected progress? We can also create tripwires for positive signs. If you have positive signs you can invest more confidently because you have evidence that things are going well. A reason that we really want to have tripwires ahead of time is that it prevents us from making decisions based on *emotional attachment* or *sunk cost*. #### Commanders Intent: Empowering Others to Make Decisions Great leaders know that things often don't go according to plan. They also know that they can't be everywhere at once. Teams need to know how to adapt when circumstances change. To be a great leader, utilize **commanders intent**: > Commanders Intent: Give a team enough structure to successfully carry out a mission, but enough flexibility to respond to changing circumstances. This has 4 components: 1. Formulate 2. Communicate 3. Interpret 4. Implement 1 and 2 are the responsibility of the commander. They must formulate the problems and situations and communicate their thinking and general principles. Subordinate commanders then have the tools to interpret and implement a solution in the field. Good leaders set the *what* and the *parameters* (constraints) for getting their, but they aren't concerned with the *how*. Think of this as an internal system and external system (bridged by an [Interface](Interface.md)). The external system is what you care about. There may be an infinite number of ways of getting their, but you are just concerned with the final result, not the how. Poor leaders insist that everything must be done their way (they focus on the how), meaning that they minimize creativity and loyalty. #### Ulysses Pact: Tying Your Hands Consider the Greek Myth of Ulysses. Ulysses was the captain of his ship. There was an island they were going to pass where sirens would sing the most beautiful song in the world. The problem was that the song was so beautiful it would drive the crew mad and they would run the boat ashore trying to reach the island. Ulysses wanted to hear the sirens singing, but without risking his life or his crew’s life. He devised a plan so that the crew would steer the ship towards the island, but they would have wax cotton in their ears so they couldn't hear the siren’s song. They would only get so close and then turn around. And to prevent them from changing plans, Ulysses would have his crew tie him to the mast so that no matter how mad he was driven by the siren’s song, he couldn't influence the crew or change the decision he had already made. They here is that he utilized Commanders Intent *and* Tripwires. In dieting, this may mean throwing out all of the junk food in the house. In dieting this may mean throwing out all of the junk food that you have in your apartment. In investing it may mean making automatic deposits each month. ### Extra's * [Fixation-Errors](Fixation-Errors.md) --- tags: #decision-making #problem-solving #critical-thinking links: [Decision by Design MOC](Decision%20by%20Design%20MOC.md) created: 2020-12-29 modified: 2020-12-29