Decision-Making Examples
Real decision-making examples worked step by step — at work, in business and in everyday life — each using a named method like a decision matrix or expected value. Try the method before you reveal the working.
The fastest way to learn decision making is to watch a method work on a real choice. Below are four examples — at work, in business, in everyday life and under pressure — each using a named model. Try the method before you reveal the working.
You must choose between three job candidates who all interviewed well. Gut feeling points different ways on different days.
Show the worked decision
Agree the criteria and weights before scoring — say skills (×3), experience (×2) and team fit (×2). Score each candidate out of 5, multiply, and total. The numbers rarely "decide" alone, but they expose what you actually value and stop the loudest impression from winning. If two tie, the criterion you weight highest breaks it.
Launch a new product now (risky) or run another month of testing (slower)? Both have upsides.
Show the worked decision
Estimate outcomes and their probabilities. Launching now: 60% chance of £100k, 40% chance of −£40k → expected value 0.6×100 + 0.4×(−40) = £44k. Testing first costs a month but lifts the success chance to 80%: 0.8×100 + 0.2×(−40) = £72k, minus the delay cost. Expected value turns "it feels risky" into a number you can compare — though you still sanity-check the estimates.
Take a new job with higher pay but a longer commute, or stay where you are?
Show the worked decision
List the factors and weight them by how much they matter to you — pay, commute, growth, security, day-to-day enjoyment. A long commute that you weight heavily can outweigh a pay rise you weight lightly. Writing it down stops a single shiny factor (the salary) from dominating a choice that affects your whole week.
An experienced shift lead must respond to a sudden equipment fault with no time to analyse options.
Show the worked decision
They don't build a decision matrix — they recognise the pattern from past faults, mentally run the obvious action ("isolate, switch to the backup line"), and act because the simulation looks fine. This is how experts really decide under time pressure; the skill is in the experience that makes the pattern recognisable.
The pattern behind every example
Notice the shape: make the criteria explicit, weigh the options against them, decide, and review. That discipline — and the reasoning underneath — is what the critical thinking test measures. For the full toolkit, see decision-making models and the decision-making process.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of a good decision-making process?
Choosing a new supplier: list the options, agree the criteria (price, reliability, lead time) and their weights, score each supplier, total the weighted scores, and pick the highest — then review after a trial. This page works that and other examples in full.
What is an everyday example of decision making?
Deciding whether to take a new job: weighing pay, commute, growth and security against explicit criteria rather than going on a single factor. The same decision-matrix method scales from everyday to business choices.
How do you show decision making in an interview?
Describe a real decision using the method: the options you had, the criteria you used, how you weighed them, what you chose, and the result. Clear, criteria-based reasoning is what interviewers want to hear.