Improving decision quality through counterfactual thinking

From contemplating, “If only I had started early, I wouldn’t have missed the flight,” to pondering, “Could our product have achieved greater success with different feature priorities?” — we encounter a wide range of questions in scenarios both trivial and profound. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:431/1*vleWKWU10pd_InL0DXj6Lg.png" style="height:444px; width:431px" /> Many of us have indulged in this habit of conjuring various scenarios in our minds, speculating about potential outcomes. I’m sure most of you can relate to doing this at some point in your life. Recently, I realized that this penchant for imagining different scenarios could be employed productively. The key is to consciously practice it as a means of enhancing decision-making. Steve Jobs’ using counterfactual thinking to create the iPhone serves as a powerful testament to its efficacy. His audacious decision to contemplate, “What if we could revolutionize the interface and functionality of mobile phones?” not only reshaped the smartphone industry but also transformed the way we interact with technology on a daily basis. Shall we see how do we practice this counterfactual thinking in a right amount to improve our decision making skills? <h1>Choose an event with unexpected outcome</h1> To begin with, select any event, whether it ended positively or not as anticipated, to ponder upon. It could be a product launch that underperformed, a marketing campaign that failed to resonate, or a project that missed its deadline. <a href="https://medium.com/@karthiga_s/improving-decision-quality-through-counterfactual-thinking-28d98f4d3e56">Learn More</a>