Guy A. Hale - Think Fast!: Accurate Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, and Planning in Minutes a Day

Contents

Praise for Think Fast!

Its easy to get confused with all of the options facing most of us these days. With Think Fast! , Mr. Hale gives us an elegant, logical, and easy-to-use method for cutting through the clutter and making fast, reliable decisions.

Dr. B. Lynn Ware

President & CEO, Integral Talent Systems, Inc.

Think Fast! immediately transformed my ability to make good decisions with clarity and confidence. It makes sense. I just do what it says and get great results, every time. I refer back to it constantly in order to make this system a habit!

K. Walker

Founder and Publisher, Catholic Business Journal

This remarkable book should have been written years ago. Guy Hale pleasantly and clearly shows us how to think better to achieve a much better result. This book is a must for anyone who wishes to become a more successful individual.

Prammukti Surjaiudaja

CEO Bank NISP, Jakarta, Indonesia

As an executive and management coach I often assign reading between coaching sessions. Now I have a resource for managers who want to improve their problem-solving or decision-making skills. Thank you!

Joe Tabers, CSP

Certified Speaking Professional and Executive Coach

Copyright 2011 by Alamo Learning Systems. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

Jacket and text designed by Ewa Krepsztul.

Bonus Chapter excerpt: The Company Way from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Frank Loesser 1961 (Renewed) FRANK MUSIC CORP. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hale, Guy A.

Think fast!: accurate decision-making, problem-solving, and planning in minutes a day / Guy Hale.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-00463-0 (hardback); ISBN 978-1-118-09651-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-09652-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-09653-6 (ebk)

1. Decision making. 2. Problem solving. 3. Critical thinking. 4. Management. I. Title.

HD30.23.H344 2011

658.4'03dc22

2011011040

Foreword

Business leadership is more challenging now than ever before, due to hyper-competition, rapidly changing technology, and a raft of emerging players from every corner of the globe, who are pressuring companies to keep changing their game in order to survive and thrive. Evidence reveals that most companies are not responding well to these extra demands.

While there is no shortage of talent, past approaches to leadership come up short, leaving a serious shortage of effective leaders for todays environment. Author and organizational expert Guy Hale, in Think Fast! , begins to fill this vacuum by providing an easy-to-adopt, personal development system that addresses one of the most basic and crucial skills required for leading: effective thinking on the go.

Putting oneself on the line by making a decision requires courage and confidence because decisions imply taking responsibility, assuming accountability, and being open to criticism and failure. To gain the confidence (and overcome any fear) needed for effective decision making requires skill and practice. Think Fast! provides a new way to make consistent, well-thought-out decisions, in record time. And to make it easy for all, this new process comes complete with how-to templates and real life examples.

Although accurate thinking is the most frequently used of core leadership skills, Guy knows well that decision making alone is not sufficient. Confident, clear, problem-solving and planning skills are also critical, especially in todays fast-paced, highly competitive environment. And Guy delivers. He gives the reader excellent new tools and templates for fast, accurate problem solving and planning as well.

Guys bonus chapter on Innovation, tucked way in the back of the book, is a useful extra once a reader has mastered the core leadership skills so excellently covered in this book. His promise of writing a new book on innovation will be in great demand.

The Think Fast! approach can easily be adopted by novices. It can be personalized and adapted to anyones timetable. I would also recommend the book to more experienced leaders for skill improvement. Thanks to my years of first-hand CEO and VC experience, often being responsible for turning around corporate divisions and entire companies, I feel that I am a proven, capable, fast, and accurate decision maker, yet I was reminded, as I read this book, of steps I often overlook in order to be more consistent.

Guy has masterfully set a new standard for understanding, identifying, and developing key skills necessary for success. This book is a must have for those who have an interest in getting ahead in todays fast-paced and complex world.

Thomas Loarie

Executive Chairman

Mercator MedSystems, Inc.

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Lance Hale and Karen Walker for their tremendous contributions to this book. Without them this would not have been possible.

Id also like to thank Shannon Vargo at John Wiley & Sons for her encouragement and coaching, and Ewa Krepsztul, who did a masterful job of designing the book.

Finally, I want to thank the many people from our client organizations who have given us so many good ideas.

One suggestion that we heard many times was that we should put the skills we teach into a short, easy-to-read book that everyone can relate to.

We listened carefully, and Think Fast! is the result.

Introduction

I know, you might be wondering how there could be a fast way of thinking. What good is fast if it isnt accurate? Besides, isnt thinking something we do (or dont do) every day without... uh... thinking about it?