The Fastest Growing Private Companies special section within the Puget Sound Business Journal is among the most widely read, so earning an article placement within it can be a big deal for building buzz for ideas and services much needed by the readers. 
Recognizing this, a few weeks ago, I helped my husband Steve Juetten write a very comprehensive pitch about how to approach the process of decision making to achieve better results — especially during these uncertain times. We went a bit beyond the standard pitch and actually prepared an article, complete with his credentials. Yesterday, we were pleased to find the full text of the submission within the special section. Here is the pitch we sent so you can write similar pitches to advance your own tips to support others’ success. These are good tips to support your decision making, so read on and enjoy.
Hi Steve, What a wild window of opportunity we are all swimming in with all the news brewing about financial crisis, bank takeovers, and more. It seems like the timing is especially good to help readers make better business decisions, no matter what unfolds. Below is an article pitch that would be well placed in the Fastest Growing Companies special section you have upcoming that would address this issue in a highly useful way. Do you think you can make room for it? I’ll call you in a few days to check your interest, unless I hear from you first. Thanks Steve.
Three Secrets to Better Business Decisions
By Steve Juetten
Business leaders in the fastest growing companies make decisions all the time. Especially in un-certain financial times, good decisions are essential to avoid wasting time, money and resources. The tendency is to have knee-jerk reactions to the latest media reports on the economy, housing starts and the stock market. If a business leader wants her/his business to grow and succeed, they need to make more good decisions. But how often do any of us think about the way we make decisions? Here are three decision-making secrets that a growing business in a volatile environment can start doing right now and improve their results.
- Follow a good decision making process. Research and my own work with companies shows that consistently good decisions are a result of a consistently good decision making process. Gut level, spontaneous or “I’ll know it when I see it” approaches don’t work.
- Avoid decision blunders. In the crush of time, business leaders tend to make psychological blunders like seizing the firstsolution as the best, thinking the most recent past is what the future will look, sunk cost trap, and seeing what they want to see. Good decision makers avoid these traps.
- Learn from experience. No one makes 100% good decisions. The key is to learn from poor decisions and make better ones in the future. Yet, very few organizations I work with make a firm commitment to learning from past experience and those are lost opportunities to improve future results.
Steve Juetten is a writer, financial planner, trainer and management consultant. For more than 30 years, Steve has helped individuals, public policy groups, non-profit organizations, government groups and for profit companies to make better business decisions. He can be reached at 425-373-9393.
