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Video Summary
When you decide on something, you are cutting off all the other options. You eliminate all the other choices and commit to a single action. So, with that in mind, it sounds like a good idea to know that you’re making the best possible decision, doesn’t it?
This week I learned to use a method of critical thinking called the Cartesian Quadrant and how I can apply it to important decisions in my day to day life.
How about you? What did you learn this week?
Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Jeffrey Kirk and here’s what I learned this week…
I’m going to share a method of critical thinking, but first some background information on the subject…
Critical Thinking Methods
Did you know that the word “decision” literally means “to cut off”? When you decide on something, you are cutting off all the other options. You eliminate all the other choices and commit to a single action. So, with that in mind, it sounds like a good idea to know that you’re making the best possible decision, doesn’t it? You want to keep the best thing and cut off the worse ones.
When people come up against a decision most ask themselves a question based on one dimension. For example, you might ask, “should I buy this car?” or maybe the question is, “which car should I buy?” Of course, you want to get to a single answer in the end. If you don’t reduce the decision to one, then you’re stuck. And stuck means indecision. And who wants that?
Or, maybe you don’t get stuck, but you find that you often make decisions that don’t work out very well. Either way, whether you find yourself getting stuck, or you just want to know that you’re making the best possible decision, you might want to start asking better questions to improve your critical thinking.
As I mentioned, many people ask a single question in the decision-making process. “What happens if I do this?” or “what happens if I make this decision?”
Pros and Cons
I learned at an early age to ask two questions, pros and cons. What positive things happen if I do this and what negative things happen if I do this? And that’s a good step because that’s looking at 2 different dimensions in the decision-making process. A strategy I have used very effectively in the past to get unstuck was the “pick a decision out of the hat” method.
This can work when you are stuck with 2 or more items. If there are only 2 items that you’re trying to decide between, then the “flip a coin” method could work just as well.
When I was a senior in high school, I had to decide which college to attend. It was pretty easy to narrow down my choices to the last two, but then I got stuck. I visited each of them, spent the night at each, talked to students and professors, sat in on classes, got their financial aid packages.
I liked them both, each balanced off with pros and cons. Trying to compete with each other, the financial packages were basically identical. I couldn’t decide, but I had to. I could only accept one college offer.
That’s when I first had the “pick a decision out of the hat” idea. I considered writing each school on a separate piece of paper, folding them up and putting them into a hat to randomly draw one out. But I didn’t do it. It turns out I didn’t have to because I started to imagine the results.
How would I feel if I reached in and picked Carroll College? Hmm, that would be okay. How would I feel if I reached in and picked Ripon College? Well, not quite as okay. I felt I might be a little disappointed and I decided I would put the paper back in and try again. And that’s when the light bulb went on.
And the answers surprised me because Ripon was the leader from the beginning. I had fallen in love with that school from the very first visit. But there was something about Carroll that kept drawing my attention back.
And now here was the answer… If my feelings matter, and they should for the choice of going to a college for 4 years, then I had my decision. I would go to Carroll instead of Ripon. And the decision was made! I had to cut off Ripon to accept Carroll. But I’ve known these decision methods for a long time. So, what did I learn this week?
What Did I Learn This Week?
There is a method of critical thinking called the Cartesian Quadrant. Are you familiar with this?
Yeah, I probably heard of it years ago, probably in a philosophy class at Carroll College, but it’s not something I ever took seriously outside of class. Anyway, the Cartesian questions were described in the 1600s by René Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician. Instead of asking a single question, or even two questions, the Cartesian Quadrant has, well, you guessed it, 4 questions!
Here are the questions…
First, “what will happen if I do this?”
Second, “what won’t happen if I do this?”
Third, “what will happen if I don’t do this?”
Fourth, “what won’t happen if I don’t do this?”
Okay, the last question can be a little confusing because it contains a double negative. If it helps, you could reword it a little bit like this.. “if I don’t do this, then what is not going to happen?” or “If I don’t do this, then what are the things that won’t happen?” And if that’s still too difficult, just think of it as the opposite of the first question. It’s the opposite of “what will happen if I do this?”
I could have probably used the Cartesian Quadrant upon graduating from college when trying to figure out which job offer to accept, or, in my case, choosing to reject all of them to hold out for something else. But let me give you a real example in the present. I’m paying for a monthly fee for a service that I used for some clients, but no longer have current clients taking advantage of it.
Let’s look at the 4 questions.
#1 – “What will happen if I stop using the service?”
Well, I’ll save money every month. I will also have to pay a 38% higher monthly fee if I restart, because I’m currently grandfathered in at a lower price. And, if I do want to use a service like this in the future, I may have to look at other options as well
#2 – “What won’t happen if I stop using the service?”
I won’t have access to historical data and configurations. I won’t be able to offer the service without reestablishing this or something similar. And, I won’t be able to start up a new client quickly because I will have to establish this service first.
#3 – “What will happen if I don’t stop using the service?”
I will get to keep my special rate so there’s no price change. I will continue paying a monthly fee even with no clients using the service. And, I will feel that I’m wasting money because I’m paying for something I’m not using.
And, #4 – “What won’t happen if I don’t stop using the service?”
I won’t save money every month. I won’t have to worry about my price going up. And, I won’t have to look for alternatives in the future.
These are just three answers for each question. I would suggest going deeper, but even with this little bit, it opens up other thoughts. For example, if I choose to stop, knowing that I will pay more if I restart, what is my confidence that I will be stopped for long enough for it to be worthwhile?
For example, if it’s likely I will have to restart next month, then it would be foolish to go through the effort and experience a price increase for a one-month delay.
In the past, this is one of those types of decisions I would put off. I would be optimistic that I would have another client using the service soon, and that I would want the lowest price available. But does it serve me to have a monthly fee for something that may or may not happen?
If the situation would change within the next month or two, then it would make sense to continue. But outside that range, it makes most sense to quit. With this knowledge, I could look at other areas of my business and conclude there was almost no chance of getting another client using this service within a few months. And, therefore, the best decision would be to stop.
So, how about you? How can you use the Cartesian quadrant to make better decisions? Comment below.
And, if you liked this, please subscribe to my channel. Well, if you didn’t like it, subscribe anyway. What won’t happen if you don’t subscribe?
Well, that’s what I learned this week. I wish you all the best!
