By Clark Twiddy
President, Twiddy & Company

In a time when many of us are thankful to simply get through the business day, the art and science of well-executed decision-making patterns, in many cases, take a back seat to the simple busyness of the day. While the never-ending temptation to respond immediately to any stimulus is difficult to resist, we also know that the sequence of how to solve a challenge or execute a strategy is in many cases more important than any individual task in the sequence itself.

In thinking through any particular challenge, one good exercise is to try to design the decision sequence around a leverage point. That is to say, a small thing that moves a big thing--that addresses a course of action rather than simply organizing the problem in a way that can be solved efficiently. Doing the right things in the right order and leveraging even the smallest advantage is the masterclass of decision-making. It’s tough to do at first, especially with your smartphone buzzing and inbox filling by the minute, but with some self-reflection, making this approach a habit is well worth the time and effort.

Clark Twiddy is president of Twiddy & Company on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He can be reached at ctwiddy@twiddy.com