BOOK NOTES: 10-10-10 by Suzy Welch

I was, 10,000 feet in the air and drowning in tough decisions in 2010 when I cracked open this book. I purchased it at the airport kiosk and on that very flight 10-10-10 shifted my perspective on managing my life in new and powerful ways.  At the time, I was grappling with decisions both large and small in most every aspect of my life.  Much like Suzy Welch, when she wrote the book in 2009, I was a business owner, mom of three active kids, and navigating the terrain of supporting aging inlaws.  Additionally, my own business, and the industry it relied upon, was struggling due to the housing market collapse.  I purchased 10-10-10 by Suzy Welch with great hope.

Just hours earlier, I had been driving in tears to catch that early morning flight. I was processing the harsh realization that there was NO ONE coming to bail me out from any of my situations.  I needed to find a better way to approach and manage the mental load of decisions each week that were draining my joyful life. I wanted to make confident decisions and move forward. I was praying for help and this book came just in time.

Suzy Welch’s book held much promise in it’s simplicity.  The paperback version I purchased had over five pages of testimonials and praise for 10-10-10 from top-tier influencers in business as well as readers from around the country. As it turns out, learning 10-10-10 was just what many of us needed to bring more clarity and peace into our lives.

What does 10-10-10 actually mean?

In the book, Welch describes 10-10-10 as a methodology to “start make decisions differently - proactively – by deliberately considering consequences in the immediate present, near term, and distant future.”

It represents an abbreviated way to evaluate the impact of any decision you are making from three different perspectives.  The numbers of 10-10-10 represent units of time that are: immediate, short term, long term.  They could represent 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years, as the book cover suggests.    Or, 10-10-10 could stand for other units of time, based on the situation. It could be 10 days, 10 months, 10 years.  Or, if you have an urgent situation, it could be 10 seconds, 10 minutes, 10 days.  The key is to evaluate your decision’s impact from three different time perspectives.

In an early chapter of the book, readers are encouraged to define priorities with a values excavation. If this is not something you are familiar with, Welch offers a series of questions in the appendix to support your process.  Once your values are defined, using the 10-10-10 methodology for making decisions through the lens of your particular values will yield you the most authentic and satisfying life. 

Much of the book is devoted to many relatable and insightful examples where these principles are successfully applied.  The 10-10-10 decision making tool supports all areas of life and works with large and small decisions as demonstrated through the many relatable stories offered.

 The Science Behind 10-10-10

While the method is simple, Welch dedicates 20 pages of the book in a chapter on The Science Behind 10-10-10.  What stood out to me was that there have been many studies demonstrating that humans, while skilled in many things, were not particularly good in making decisions with multiple variables and timeframes.  Welch explains a term called “hyperbolic discounting”. Hyperbolic discounting is where humans place diminishing value on gains and losses as they look out into the future.  Welch explains that this reality challenges the “Expected Utility Theory” which was put forward by several mathematicians at Princeton in the 1800s. This theory poses that humans will make decisions in their own personal best interest after a rational evaluation of the gains and losses the decision will yield over time. 

The Expected Utility Theory has proven to be inconsistent with reality, as most humans rarely assess all the outcomes or consequences when making decisions, nor do they act rationally all of the time.  The book outlines multiple factors that contribute to this, but one common factor that impacts decision making worth noting is stress. Operating under stress is identified as the number one deterrent to rational thinking, as it often takes us out of our ability to process through the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain where complex reasoning occurs.  By utilizing the 10-10-10 evaluation method, we help bring ourselves back into the reasoning part of our brains, yielding better decisions for the short and long term.

Facing Career Decisions

I really appreciated Chapter 6 on career decisions where Welch offers guidance for evaluating your current situation.  She offers four questions to consider for gaining clarity on your current job’s ability to support your longterm success:

1.     Does my job allow me to work with “my people” – those who share my responsibilities about life – or do I have to zone out, fake it, or put on a persona to get through the day?

2.     Does my job make me smarter by stretching my mind, building my skills, and taking me out of my comfort zone?

3.     Does my job open doors for me?

4.     Does my job give me meaning?

10-10-10 offers a consistent yet personalized approach for making decisions. It often helps me reframe situations which seem to be stuck.   The simple technique of 10-10-10 for decision making was a true gift when I found it in 2010 and has served me well ever since.  This book would benefit anyone feeling burnt out by the barrage of decisions we face regularly.

Thank you, Suzy Welch, for sharing 10-10-10!