The importance of importance

Decisions often seem simpler than they are. The options have multiple implications, and these are not always easy to compare. But there is a way to cut through that complexity, and make better choices.

When I was about five years old (it was well over 20 years ago), I was staying with my grandmother one afternoon. I followed her around the house as she was doing the homework, and at some point, she was putting some freshly laundered clothes away in her wardrobe. I asked her about the ornaments on the cabinet and the pictures on the wall when I noticed a small candle on her nightstand. For some reason I asked her if she could light it. She was well aware of my reputation as a very sensible little boy, and she must have felt that going along with my request under her immediate supervision did not pose a particular risk. Yet, while she was stacking the last couple of blouses, I decided to place my finger in the flame. The experience was brief, painful and educational. Was it a good decision, though?

A flaming good decision?

Little did I know then that, some decades later, I would actually be teaching a course in decision making, and spending much of my waking hours thinking and learning about the…