Keith Rabois shares the decision-making framework he learned from Reid Hoffman

“Reid has a very specific view of how to make decisions… Most people create pros and cons lists. But Reid was adamant that that was the worst possible way to make a decision. He trained me to never do that… So since this conversation in 2002, I have never done that. You will never find a notebook where I write down the pros and cons of any decision.”

Instead, Reid advocates for strictly ranking your priorities — this could be priorities in your life, priorities for your company, etc.

Then you try to make the decision based solely on the first priority. Only if there’s a tie do you go to your second or third priority. As Keith explains:

“The reason Reid’s model is so brilliant is because when you create a pros and cons list, you’re creating effectively — and visually — a false equivalence.”

When your brain sees two pros and three cons it looks at each item as though it’s equivalent. But usually the reasons for doing something will follow a power law. The first one might be really, really important, while the second factor is only slightly important.

But when you see them all listed equally in a pros and cons list, you’re brain will often make the wrong decision.

Full video: Khosla Ventures “Lessons from Five Bosses | Keith Rabois & Samir Kaul“ (Jul 2023)