Are you boring or optimal?

(Credit: Geralt/Pixabay)

My husband and I devote at least one night a week to date night. Date night typically includes dinner, a movie, or concert. As you might guess, we ask ourselves if we should go to someplace new or a favorite. My husband is a proponent of new things and limiting return visits. I tend to go with what I like and trust. Therefore, our pre-dinner decision making can cause a little grief. If we go to the same place, are we in a rut and boring?

In his TED Talk “3 ways to make better decisions—by thinking like a computer” cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths gave me practical strategies for making better decisions for future decisions of this nature:

• Explore – Try something new and learn from it.
• Exploit – Use the information you already know is pretty good.

How might you relate this the explore/exploit method to repetitive decisions on the fireline? What are the pros and cons of this method?

Digging a Little Deeper

• Need a little more advice, check out Dan Rockwell's blog "5 Ways to Choose Important over Urgent.)

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About the Author: Pam McDonald is a writer/editor for BLM Wildland Fire Training and Workforce Development and member of the NWCG Leadership Subcommittee. The expressions are those of the author.