I Don’t Have the Secret to Making Hard Decisions, but I Do Have a Yellow Note Pad

NYT OPINION: I Don’t Have the Secret to Making Hard Decisions, but I Do Have a Yellow Note Pad
By Robert E. Rubin
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: May 9, 2023 at 03:00AM

The need for a sound decision-making approach in the face of uncertainty is greater now than ever before.

Not long after my appointment as director of President Clinton’s National Economic Council in 1993, a letter arrived in my West Wing office. I immediately recognized the writer’s name: Mrs. Dorothy Collins. “Are you the same Robbie Rubin,” the letter asked, “who was in my fourth-grade class at North Beach Elementary School?” On one level, Mrs. Collins’s question had a straightforward answer: yes. But on another level, the answer to Mrs. Collins’s question was deeper than a simple yes or no. In 1947, when I sat in her classroom, my life could have gone in any number of directions. Today, after over half a century in business, government and politics, I find myself contemplating a different version of Mrs. Collins’s question. Of all the ways a fourth grader’s life could unfold, why did mine unfold the way it did? Some people have grand visions for their lives and careers, but I’ve never been one of them. When I was in fourth grade, my goal was to get to fifth grade. When I was in fifth grade, my goal was to get to sixth. Looking back, I think it is fair to say that my life, like most people’s, has been shaped to a large degree by luck and circumstances beyond my control. But it also seems clear that my answer to Mrs. Collins’s question has a great deal to do with decisions I’ve made or been part of. And even more consequential than my choices themselves is my overall approach to decision-making, one I’ve developed and honed over more than six decades.

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/opinion/hard-decision-making-uncertainty-robert-e-rubin.html