Career Preparedness

Personal Decision Making

Objectives:

Demonstrate knowledge of opportunity costs.

Demonstrate knowledge of tradeoffs.

Demonstrate knowledge of systematic approach to decision making.

Key Terms

• Impulse- decision-making strategy in which you go with your first reaction.

• Escape- decision-making strategy in which you avoid a decision or make up and answer to deflect injury.

• Procrastination- decision-making strategy in which you delay making the decision until someone else makes the decision or until options disappear; deciding by default.

Key Terms

• Compliance- decision-making strategy in which you hand over control or let someone else decide.

• Agony- decision-making strategy in which you consider every detail of every option over and over again.

• Play It Safe- decision-making strategy in which you choose the alternative with the lowest level of risk.

Key Terms:

Opportunity Cost- by choosing one option you are giving up another.

Trade-offs- what you give up when you choose one alternative over another.

Instant Gratification- an unwillingness to give up something now in return for something later.

Delayed Gratification- a willingness to give up something now in return for something later.

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow!

Let’s watch this six minute video showing how decisions can be difficult even when you are young! Look for opportunity cost, tradeoffs, instant gratification, and delayed gratification.

http://www.ted.com/talks/joachim_de_posada_says_don_t_eat_the_marshmallow_yet.html

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow!

What was the opportunity cost?

What was the trade-off?

Who had instant gratification?

Who had delayed gratification?

Discussion

Who can tell me what are some obstacles that people face when making decisions? Have you ever had to make a hard decision?

Opportunity Cost

When your alarm went off this morning or your parent came in to wake you up, what choice did you face this morning?

Brainstorm Activity

Let’s make a list of things you could do on a Friday night. Write them on your paper and I will write some on the board. Now choose only one activity to do. What is your tradeoff and what is your opportunity cost?

Tradeoff-

Opportunity Cost-

Decision Making Process

1. Define the problem.

2. Brainstorm possible alternatives:

a. Develop alternatives.

b. Evaluate alternatives.

3. Propose and defend a solution.

Scenario #1

You are a freshman and an only child whose parents have demanding careers and little time to spend at home. You are left home alone a lot and have friends over for parties all the time. The parties can sometimes get out of hand, but so far you have not been caught. Recently, your friends have challenged you to take them for a ride in your parent’s car but you don’t have your license yet. However, you’d like to do it.

Scenario #2

Your friends are bullying someone at school. You used to be friends with the person that is being bullied. You want to stand up to your friends because you feel bad, but you realized that they will probably not take it very well.

Scenario #3

You have a job that you have been working very hard at because you are saving up to buy a car. Your best friend approaches you and asks if you would like to go away with his/her family over summer vacation. You want to go, however your parents tell you that you would have to pay for our own airfare and spending money. This would put a significant debt in your car savings.

Scenario #4

You have a very important Science project that is due tomorrow and you haven’t even started yet. You plan on spending several hours doing it tonight when you get home after practice when your friend suddenly ask you to go to a concert tonight. They won tickets to your favorite band and you want to go with them. You need to get the project done because you have a D average in Science right now but you really want to go to the concert with your friend.

Scenario #5

Danielle is having trouble deciding where to go to college. She can’t make up her mind between a large state University, a small local private school, and an elite college out of state.