Our decisions form the contact we make with the outside world – our relationships, our work, our health, our finances are all directly tied to the decisions we make. – Hasard Lee
In recent years, many of us have been drawn to leadership and management books that have been produced by military leaders such as David Goggins, Jocko Willink, or Tim Kennedy. Each of these books brings something original to the literature that is unique yet consistent with the best research available. This book is unique in its approach to addressing a key part of leadership – decision making.
In The Art of Clear Thinking: A Stealth Fighter Pilot’s Timeless Rules for Making Tough Decisions, Major Justin “Hasard” Lee describes the process by which the best fighter pilots in the world make decisions that can, ultimately, have life and death ramifications. In just a matter of seconds, these pilots must make decisions that will impact their current situation and be challenged and “second-guessed” for weeks to come.
The system that Lee describes is known as the ACE Helix – Assess, Choose, and Execute. Lee presents a well thought out approach for taking these concepts and applying them to the world that most of us live in. The vast majority of us will never be soldiers, let alone fighter pilots. The decisions we make will most likely not have life or death implications. Yet, these principles will provide a platform for evaluating current circumstances and drawing on the experiences we’ve had to make the best decision within the shortest period of time that is possible.
Life is short and whatever challenges or problems we face can be addressed if we can apply our knowledge and the available evidence. Hasard Lee provides a resource for making the best decisions possible at the moment.
I didn’t have time to think through each option, so I fell back on the mantra, “There’s no problem so bad you can’t make it worse.” – Hasard Lee