Nevertheless, the book is dry and uneven, and some sections are less useful than others. After stressing the importance of identifying the right questions to ask, the authors' discussion of how to do that is vague and disappointing. For instance, the authors provide concrete guidelines for understanding the consequences of different alternatives. Perhaps the most useful chapter is on what the authors call ''psychological traps'' in decision-making and how to avoid them. They warn, for example, against ''the overconfidence trap,'' which hurts people who are too sure of the accuracy of their predictions.
Procrastination is the bane of good decision-making,'' say the authors.
And in the end, that may be the book's most important lesson. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.