Yes or No: The Guide to Better Decisions

by Spencer Johnson

Book Overview

Johnson, the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller The One Minute Manager, provides a brilliant, practical system for consistently making better decisions. He uses the story of a young man's hike up a mountain to illustrate his six-step system that uses three practical and three private questions to help readers focus on their true needs and think their decisions through.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060168579
• ISBN13: 9780060168575
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A LOT OF WISDOM

I have several books by this author and I find that his method of getting his points across is unique and effective. By using a story format, he lets you get the point without "telling" you to do things. The seller wrapped the package well and sent it within the time frame. I can't remember if the book was new or used but it certainly was in "new" shape.

Soooo Practical!

I have worked personally with Dr. Johnson on this material and have fully tested it in my own life and career. It really works! This elegant yet profound model for clear thinking will assure that you honor both your heart and your head when making choices. The parable teaches the model in ways the reader doesn't even notice. I've read the entire book aloud with my family and read it again on a plane trip alone. It will make sense of so many things. Buy it now and keep reading it as long as you keep making decisions. :-)

Better Problem Solving, Decisions and Actions!

As a management consultant whose practice heavily involves helping people become better problem solvers and someone who co-authored a book about better problem solving (The 2,000 Percent Solution), I was struck that this book delivers much more than it claims (the opposite of most self-help books). Although ostensibly about decision making, the book also focuses well on how to identify solutions to important issues and how to be sure you follow through on the decisions you make about those issues. The book is presented as a fable, in the familiar style of The One Minute Manager (which Dr. Johnson co-authored with Kenneth Blanchard). The fable revolves around a learning exercise called The Hike, which is led by 'the guide,' an outstanding businessman who guides people through the mountains and their decisions. On The Hike, the young man learns the key principles involved in making better decisions (not optimal decisions, just better ones) and gets pointers from hikers who have been on The Hike before. During The Hike, many occurrences are used to explain the key ideas, and specific case histories are described and evaluated. The key points of each chapter are summarized in notes at chapter end, and the principles are captured in a summary at the end of the book as well. The essence of the decision-making approach here is to test potential decisions analytically (with your intellect) and emotionally (with your heart and feelings). Most people tend to favor one or the other, at the expense of making better decisions. On the intellectual side, you are encouraged to consider whether you are meeting your real needs (rather than vague desires), getting enough information to make a good decision, and giving the whole situation a thorough evaluation. On the emotional side, you are directed to check the truthfulness of what you are thinking, your comfort with the potential decision, whether fear is governing you, and whether you are settling for too little. Most people I meet who are having problems with decision making are relying too much on intellect or too much on emotions. They have a hard time seeing the benefits of more balance in their approach. This book will be very helpful to such people.Now, this book is not a heavyweight introduction into the formal disciplines of decision making encompassed in game theory and other tools. If you are interested in learning more about those methods, you would do well to read this book and then graduate to the techniques in Smart Choices, which I have also reviewed.In addition to what you will learn from these two books, I would also like to encourage you to study examples of people who have made great decisions in the same area, and consider analogies of perfect solutions from other areas of human endeavor. Those can stimulate improved options in your thinking that will allow you to make even better decisions. Allocate a half hour a day to working on important decisions you are giving short s

read this first - before all the other great self help books

This was a wonderful book that helped me put all the other self help books into practice. It helped me to make the decisions so that I could then set the goals to improve my life. It was simple to read and even gives a "shortcut card" to keep handy.

Essential method for clarity in every area of life!

I read over 50 books per year, as a professional speaker I am always on the look out for new ideas. After the Bible, I believe Yes or No to be in the top 5 of all the books I have ever read. Brilliant in its simplicity, brevity, style, and content. The audio version is stunning. GET IT