Decision

A decision is the commitment to irrevocably allocate valuable resources. A decision is a commitment to act. Action is therefore the irrevocable allocation of valuable resources.

This step toward action is one of a series; in the health care field, for example, the steps may be remembered with the mnemonic BRAND, which includes

• Benefits of the action
• Risks in the action
• Alternatives to the prospective action
• Nothing: that is, doing nothing at all
• Decision

Finally,

• Action, with its attendant consequences.

It is perhaps pertinent to note that the cost of making no decision at all itself is a factor, and that the benefit of making some decision, even a random choice, can be beneficial in the longer term. Thus the reversibility of an action may be a good way to judge whether or not an action or process is beneficial. A resource can also be viewed as something expendable, or bearing a cost, rather than the implication of selecting something irrevocably.

Even life and death decisions have been priced this way, as in the insurance industry.

See

• Choice
• Execution
• Insurance
• Judgement
• Cost
• Benefit
• Decision theory