Poliheuristic Decision Theory

How do leaders choose under pressure — war or peace, launch or wait? Not by weighing all options against all criteria, as the textbooks dream. They use a two-step shortcut: first, throw out every option that crosses a red line; then, among the survivors, pick by whatever criterion is loudest.

Notice that you decide the same way. The apartment search: anything over budget is out, whatever its charms; then among the rest, the light in the kitchen decides. Eliminate by dealbreakers, choose by feeling. It is not the ideal method — but it is fast, and it has one great virtue the ideal lacks: it can be explained and defended.

The danger hides in step one: the red lines themselves. A dealbreaker set years ago, in another life, still vetoes options today — never reviewed because the vetoed option is never seen again.

So audit your vetoes annually. Which of your automatic "no"s still deserve their power? The dealbreakers run the search before the search begins. Make sure they are still working for the life you have, not the life you left.