Decision
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A decision is the commitment to irrevocably allocate valuable resources. A decision is a commitment to act. Action is therefore the irrevocable allocation of valuable resources.
This step toward action is one of a series; in the health care field, for example, the steps may be remembered with the mnemonic BRAND, which includes
- Benefits of the action
- Risks in the action
- Alternatives to the prospective action
- Nothing: that is, doing nothing at all
- Decision
Finally,
- Action, with its attendant consequences.
It is perhaps pertinent to note that the cost of making no decision at all itself is a factor, and that the benefit of making some decision, even a random choice, can be beneficial in the longer term. Thus the reversibility of an action may be a good way to judge whether or not an action or process is beneficial. A resource can also be viewed as something expendable, or bearing a cost, rather than the implication of selecting something irrevocably.
Even life and death decisions have been priced this way, as in the insurance industry.