Make Big Decisions Using 10-10-10: Book Review

Suzy Welch’s new book, “10-10-10“ could be summed up in a magazine article, but I read the entire book. Thankfully, she is a good writer that doesn’t write over people’s heads. The book moves along at a quick pace and she breaks it down into manageable parts.

The premise is quite simple: solve life’s problems by using the 10-10-10 methodology —

answer your question with these questions:

How will this affect me in 10 minutes?
How will this affect me in 10 months?
How will this affect me in 10 years?

Pretty simple stuff. Not rocket science. Welch manages to pull this concept into an entire book by breaking it out into sections: 10-10-10 and parenting, 10-10-10 and your career, etc.

What makes the book interesting is her real-life examples, some personal, others anecdotes from people who have used the system in their lives. Many have passed the 10 year mark and know how the outcome helped them. She talks of the working mom who decides to stay at home with her kids, and another working mother who faces the decision of weather or not to quit her job to stay at home to help her child diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. She uses 10-10-10 to realize it’s best for her to stay in her job.

So, should you read this book? Let’s 10-10-10 it.

In 10 minutes: It won’t really matter in 10 minutes because you may not have had the chance to use the technique.

In 10 months: If you don’t read it you could have missed an opportunity to use 10-10-10 on a major life decision.

In 10 years: You could have been using this technique for years on end and have had it become second nature in all major decisions. You could have also had experiences where you’ve taught it to friends, your kids, family and coworkers.

I think by reading the book you get more of a sense how thinking about the short and long term consequences of your decisions. It reinforces areas where you can concentrate the need to evaluate pros and cons of what you are thinking. It gives you information to teach your children about how decisions are made so they can better understand why you decide what you do. You don’t need to read the book to understand the concepts, but it certainly gives you a more rounded understanding of how people use this to their advantage.