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A Decision Tree for Choosing Your Battles
Remember the 4 Ps
“Head on, guns blazing,” I always used to say. For most of my life, I’ve prided myself on my inclination to dive right into what’s in front of me. That is, until a former boss went on maternity leave and had me fill in as the officer-in-charge at work.
Boy, was it a trial by fire. I considered every task and issue as my problem, and heralded myself as some sort of martyr for sacrificing my time and energy to tend to whatever issue happened to land on my plate.
Yes, I’ve heard the phrase “Choose your battles.”
But when you think about it, how does one actually do that? How do you choose?
Since those hellish months, I’ve been taking pains to determine what to say yes to and when to act on something. I’ve also been more observant of how others exercise good judgment so I can learn from them. And to put all the learnings together, I’ve come up with a decision tree that can make choosing your battles less instinctive and easier to practice. For easier recall — fellow marketers, you’ll love this — just remember the 4 Ps.
Here’s the decision tree:
