From a parent's perspective

This tool guides you through a process that applies the Decision Chain. As a simple first pass that structures your thinking to improve your decision, it provides a practical summary and useful tool that brings the concepts and value together for students and adults.

An animated video explains how to use the tool and mirrors the content in the worked example.

The Fundamentals of Making Good Decisions introduces the core principles of Decision Quality. This 22-page booklet was originally designed for educators and parents but has proven accessible for students in the classroom.

Authors: Carl Spetzler, Tom Keelin, and Paul Schoemaker

Why settle for less when you can learn how to get more of what you want by making better decisions? ​In this course, you'll learn the basic elements and process of making quality decisions.

The core principles of Decision Skills can be learned from the Decision Focus video series. The animated videos average about 3 minutes and are appropriate and valuable for students and adults.

Video 1 on the Decision Chain and video 2 on Decision Traps provide a solid overview of topics that are explored in more depth in the 12 videos.

These real life decision stories create opportunities to explore Decision Skills through relevant situations students want to talk about.

Pictured here is the Himalayan Decision, a two-part scenario that sets up a decision faced by students on a trek in Nepal. Students learn about decision making after discussing part 1 and see what really happened in part 2.

Other real life examples include students who used Decision Skills in choosing a college, deciding which extracurricular activity to drop, deciding to move to a different school to get specialized support, and more.

Students share how Decision Skills make a difference in their lives. In this video, Isabella shares how she applied the tools she learned at a summer course at Stanford to her life when she got home.

Like many motivated students, Isabella was over-scheduled and stressed out. She was able to find a solution that worked for her parents, her friends, and for herself.

Many people have shared stories of how they have used Decision Skills to improve their decision making and help friends.

Few stories are as compelling and heart-felt as the decision Carrie Brumbach and her family faced with her husband's cancer diagnosis. She and her husband, Aaron, share how DEF's decision making framework helped them face these challenges.