S.W.O.T Making the Right Decision

What is SWOT? Is this article going to be about a traffic warning when we hear about Sheer Weight Of Traffic, or maybe it’s all about when we SWOT a fly? No, this article concerns a technique that I would recommend you not only read about here, but you actually apply it whenever you have a decision to make, and you have more than one option to consider.

All too often in life when decisions are a necessity, we think about all the options in our head, and let the thoughts go round and round in circles, taking more time than is necessary before reaching a conclusion. During this process, we go backwards and forwards, talking to others about our thoughts, getting annoyed with ourselves and sometimes wishing that there was another way to help make the right decision.

Well, the good news is that there is another way. It is called SWOT, where S = Strengths, W = Weaknesses, O = Opportunities and T = Threats. The abbreviated version of this is where people look at the plusses and minuses, the strengths and the weaknesses, the good points and the bad points, etc. However, SWOT is much more powerful as it includes Opportunities and Threats, where you look at external factors that play their role.

I used this technique many years ago when we were moving home, and had found two places, but my wife and I just couldn’t agree on which one to purchase. So we got out two pieces of A4 paper, wrote the address of each house on separate pieces at the top, and then drew a vertical line down the middle of each page and a horizontal line across the middle of each page. Each sheet of paper then has four blank boxes. We then put the word Strengths in the top left hand corner, Weaknesses in the left hand corner of the top right box, Opportunities in the top left hand corner of the bottom left box and Threats in the top left hand corner of the bottom right hand box.

We then proceeded to write all the things that we had been discussing into the respective boxes on the two sheets of paper. We now had everything down on paper, and out of our heads, so we could look at the two sheets alongside each other. It also gave us a chance to bounce new thoughts off each other and then transfer more facts onto the sheets of paper. Within a very short period of time, we not only knew which house we should purchase but also what were the overriding reasons why.

This technique is so powerful it can be used when your children have options, and decisions have to be made about which school, college or University they should go to. Also, later on, when different jobs are on offer for children and parents. 

Young people have to put together a CV at some stage to attach to a job application. It will not do any harm for a young person to complete a SWOT on themselves prior to this taking place. They should be very proud to put down what their strengths are, whether academic, sporting or other, as well as not being afraid and honest about what their weaknesses are. They can then work out what they need to do to turn those weaknesses into strengths if they feel that they might be needed at a later stage in life.

In the world of fashion, I am sure that there are numerous occasions, each & every day, when key decisions are being made. You are in a competitive business world, and right decisions are key. Give SWOT a try and see whether the advantages of using this very powerful technique outweigh not using SWOT and doing what you’ve always done in the past.

If you would like to know more about SWOT, then feel free to email me at eric@coachandcourses.com