10-10-10 is a book that gives you a simple way to make decisions.
Suzy Welch is married to Jack Welch the American executive. The bit about how they got together when Jack was separated, but not yet divorced, from his wife is on pp.154-158.
What are the three tens? They are ten minutes, ten months and ten years. The simple idea is that with any decision you are having trouble making: reduce it to an alternative and consider the consequences of each alternative in ten minutes, ten months and ten years. Suzy points out that the 10′s don’t need to be taken seriously – they are just a simple and practical way of saying short, medium and long term.
This requires a couple of things. The first is being able to come up with concrete alternatives. It enables you to choose between this and that. It doesn’t offer a way to decide what to do next. The second is a system to evaluate the alternatives – you need to have a sense of your values. This isn’t a book about clarifying your values and doesn’t claim to be.
What’s in the book?
The first three chapters introduce what 10-10-10 is all about. The first is about Suzy and why she developed the system. The second is about the brain science behing the idea (which I found largely irrelevant). The third is about values.
The remaining six chapters are about how people have used 10-10-10 to make decisions in different aspects of their lives. The six aspects of life covered are: romantic relationships, paid employment, career, parenting, friendship, and bringing up children. Each chapter consists of several stories of how people have used the 10-10-10 system to make decisions in this area of their life.
Suzy has been a journalist for many years, and it shows in the readability of the book. The writing is pacy, the stories are told with economy and are to the point. They are good human interest writing.
Weak Points and Disagreements
The one possible weak point is the length of the book – but this depends what you like. If I had written this book it would be 20 pages, not nearly three hundred. I would have explained what the three 10′s were and given some exercises for people to do. All the stories are well written and there is not one that is boring. However, you know what each one will be about – for me this meant it took an effort to keep going, even though reading each individual story was easy because it was well written. However, my style is not necessarily easy to read: the feedback I get is usually along the lines of: Um, maybe you could point out the connections and give an occasional example . . . The stories show how the system applies to each area of our lives and, through different peoples’ stories gives a wide range of examples. If you are someone who wonders about how a theory applies to real life situations then there are lots of useful examples.
My one disagreement is with some of Suzy’s values. She is a business journalist and accepts the values of business and ‘professionalism’. She thinks it was just fine for the Harvard Business Review to have sacked her for getting together with Jack, who she had been sent to interview. She even accepts that her firing for this from the Harvard Business Review was ‘her own doing’, and not theirs. Don’t expect any critiques of capitalism, or even minimal awareness of social context. Suzy accepts the current arrangement of society and presumes that it is up to individuals to choose within it. (And why not – it has suited her and she has done well in this culture.)
Overall Assessment
Simple but not simplistic, I have found this way of making decisions really helpful. It is especially helpful that, early on, Suzy points out that the short, medium and long-term are all valid – it doesn’t just mean going for the long-term and sacrificing the immediate. It can help you figure out that sometimes in the long-term it may not make a blind bit of difference but that it may mean a lot of pain or pleasure in the short or medium term.
I recommend this book. It is a useful and practical idea, clearly explained, simple to remember but subtle enough to help with complex decisions. I think it is well worth getting a copy and putting it into practise.
Thanks
I was alerted to this book by Barbara, a reader and commenter on this blog. Many thanks to her, Evan
10-10-10 A Life Transforming Idea by Suzy Welch
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Tags: 10-10-10, decision-making, decisions, values
Thanks for the review of this book – I hadn’t heard of it until now, and am def. interested in reading it. Has it helped the way you make decisions, or has it just been good to read for the theory, not necessarily the practicality?
It’s definitely helped me with decisions. Not in a major way as I find making decisions quite easy and I tend to work from the future back. But the simplicity of it was really helpful.
It’s funny you mention that strategy – my dad is a huge proponent of working backwards from a future event (mostly in terms of time management). Sometimes I find it challenging as I feel ill suited to imagine what the future will really be like.
For me it’s more about what I want the future to be like, rather than trying to imagine what it will be like. Also for me, because it’s easy to make decisions, it isn’t a drama for me (usually) to make another decision if something doesn’t work out or it turns out I got it wrong. Sometimes it is very difficult, but this has only been true a few times in my life. I probably use working backwards mostly as a way to clarify my desires and values and knowing what next step to take. I think your Dad and I are a bit different in how we use the same strategy.
I am the worst at making decisions! I can’t make a decision to save my life. Sounds like a book I need to read.
Hi Mrs. Money, I think it could really help you.
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