Choice Cards | How to play

Choice Cards Each suit talks about a different aspect of choice:

– play your Spades | Values

Choice needs to be informed by values, which provide

cards right a moral compass. Here, we’ve chosen to open the

box by phrasing the values in the form of questions.

Hearts | Quotes
Knowing the principles are fine, but sometimes all it
takes is a choice phrase from someone to bring the
truth home.
Clubs | Traps
Our minds sometimes act in less than rational ways.
Here are some loopholes in decision making that will
help us to understand how our mind works.
Diamonds | Methods
There is no shortage of decision making tools out
there. Here’s a selection of 13 of the best.

Jokers | Wild cards

As in traditional card decks, jokers can play the role of
any other card. We include 8 of them here, so that
decks can be customised.
 The situation | Our intervention
Unfortunately, much of the current literature on choice and decision
making is confined to 3 domains in the adult world:

1) Business: how to make better decisions to become more

profitable
2) Psychology: understanding how the human mind works
3) Social work: using tools to counsel people and guide them in
decision-making

The Choice Card project aims to distill the principles of decision

making available in these 3 fields of study, and open source them to
youth and youth workers. This is done through the creation of a deck
of customised playing cards.
Youth | choice
Features | Innovations
There is research on brain development that shows that the
1) Access: Making the project downloadable means that youth and
prefrontal cortex, which regulates impulses, risk taking, planning,
youth workers with an Internet connection can be reached.
decision making, empathy and insight, is still in development among
2) Price: The project will be delivered for free, with the cost
youth. In fact, it is the last structure of the brain to stop growing,
distributed to the end user. The deck of 60 playing cards can be
developing until the mid-twenties.
printed out as a series of 15 pieces of 5R photographs, which are
then cut into 4.
However, this also means that youth, not having a fully mature
3) Portability: Youth can’t always be carrying a book around to help
prefrontal cortex, may be more impulsive than adults, and perhaps
them make choices. Playing cards offer a possible format that
more susceptible to peer influences.
also doubles up as a game.
 Helping Others Tip: Think of the altruistic
Spades | Values
6♠ How can helping reasons for why people

others help yourself? help each other.

Integrity Tip: Use the “What would I

A♠ What would I want like my gravestone to read

Religion Tip: Most effective if both of
other people to say when I die?” exercise

7♠ Does my faith or you share the same faith

about me?
religion already have and understand the

Tip: Relevant for issue of the answer I’m looking theology well.
Self Worth

2♠ Is this really who I am? self-image and self-esteem. for?

Co-operation Tip: Also known as the

8♠ How can everyone Golden Solution. Consider

benefit from this using a Venn diagram to

Responsibility Tip: Use a 2x2 grid of illustrate this.
situation?

3♠ Is this important, Important / Not important &

urgent, or both? Urgent / Not urgent to Influence Tip: In soccer terms,

9♠
delineate a problem. There are 2 types of “Attack is the best form of

people in life: defense.”

Courage Tip: This term from the
thermometers and

4♠ What’s my Dementor? Harry Potter books is used

thermostats. Which
to describe a person’s
are you?
worst nightmare.
Purpose Tip: For those who are

10♠ What makes me come considering courses of

Patience Tip: Emphasises the
study or career paths.

5♠
importance of delayed alive?
Can I wait for
something better? gratification.
 Honesty Tip: Emphasise being Possible Values wild cards

J♠ Is this the truth about truthful to yourself, rather Tip: Ask yourself what the
Service
me? than trying to please others other person really wants.
What’s a small thing I
with a pat answer.
could do to make
someone I care about
Friends / Family Tip: Arrange a few terms in
happy?

Q♠ What’s the most order: friends, family,

Loyalty Tip: Think of past
important thing here? religion, school, and so on.
Who’s a true friend to situations when someone

me? supported you when you

Tip: Counter-intuitive, but were down.

Forgiveness

K♠ Is it possible to forgive potentially very effective.

someone who has Love Tip: Distinguish between

wronged me? How much do I care true love and “I love laksa”

about this person? kind of love.

Respect Tip: Distinguish

Do I think highly of this respecting someone from

person? liking someone. What are

that person’s qualities?
 God grant me the serenity Tip: Separate an issue
Hearts | Quotes
6♥
to accept the things I into 2 components:
cannot change, the those aspects which
No matter how far down Tip: Power and speed
courage to change the you have no control

A♥
the wrong road you’ve are useless without
things I can, and the over, and those that
gone, turn back. – Turkish direction.
wisdom to know the you do, such as your
proverb
difference. – Theologian attitude to a situation.
Reinhold Niehbuhr
Eighty percent of success Tip: It’s not just being
The ultimate measure of a Tip: As the Mindef

2♥
is showing up. – director there, but being there

7♥
man is not where he campaign says, “What
Woody Allen when it’s necessary.
stands in moments of will you fight for?”
comfort and convenience,

With great power, comes Tip: One could say, the but where he stands at

3♥
great responsibility – more power one is times of challenge and

Spider Man given, the more is controversy. – Martin

expected of that Luther King Jr

person. It’s our choices, Harry, that Tip: Or as Robert de

8♥
It takes a great deal of Tip: A good reminder show what we truly are, far Niro once said, “Your
courage to stand up to

4♥
that friends can mean more than our abilities. – power is in your
your enemies, but a great
deal more to stand up to well but still be wrong. Dumbledore, Harry Potter choice.”
our friends. – Professor and the Chamber of
Dumbledore
Secrets
Lying makes a problem Tip: How will a lie come What do we live for if it is Tip: Are we at least not

5♥ 9♥
part of the future; truth back and haunt a not to make life less causing harm to
makes a problem part of person? difficult to each other? another person?
the past. - NBA coach Rick George Eliot
Pitino
 Don’t make any decisions
10 ♥ if you are in doubt. –
Baasanjav, 16, Mongolia
Doing is the best way of
J♥
saying. – Cuban poet,
José Martí
A pessimist sees the
Q♥
difficulty in every
opportunity; an optimist
sees the opportunity in
every difficulty. – Winston
Churchill
When one door of
K♥
happiness closes, another
opens; but often we look
so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one
which has been opened for
us. – Helen Keller
Tip: So clear up all
your doubts before
committing to a
decision.
Tip: Some people like
to verbalise their
emotions – but
sometimes it’s not
enough.
Tip: The Chinese word
for crisis has the word
opportunity in it as well!
Tip: The other door is
probably behind you –
turn around!
Possible Quotes wild cards
Don’t make money your
goal. Instead, pursue the
things you love doing, and
Tip: This is about
focus, and just putting
all your effort in things
then do them so well that that count.
people can’t take their eyes
off you. – poet Maya
Angelou
All that is necessary for the Tip: Use if you are in a
truimph of evil is for good bystander position and
men to do nothing. – feel that it’s not your job
Edmund Burke to help someone.
There are 2 ways to live Tip: Look at the world
your life. One is as though with a new perspective!
nothing is a miracle. The
other is as though
everything is a miracle. –
Albert Einstein
The most important thing in Tip: Use to help
communication is hearing understand what is
what isn’t being said. – being implicitly said in a
Peter F. Drucker, situation.
Management Guru
 Information Tip: This is useful when
Clubs | Traps
4♣
Cascades the decision is low-cost,
When people do not make
decisions based on their such as ordering food,

Tip: An example would own information and but has serious

The Status Quo Trap experience, and instead

A♣
be sticking with the simply copy other people’s consequences when
Unwillingness to change
same group of friends decisions, assuming that applied to a choice of
thought patterns that we someone else has
just because they live carefully studied the issues school or course.
have used in the past in
nearby and not at hand.
the face of new Tip: Keeping your
Tyranny of choice
because they’re good

5♣
circumstances. As the number of choices
friends. keeps growing, negatives
aspects of having a
The Confirming- Tip: When we judge multitude begin to appear.
options open is viable
up to a certain point –
the number of choices

2♣
people, we tend to rely Clinging tenaciously to all
Evidence Trap the choices available to us needs to be trimmed to
on a few bits of contributes to bad
We tend to be willing to avoid psychological
information in order to decisions, anxiety and
gather facts that support stress. burden.
make up our mind.
certain conclusions but An Ace of Success Tip: Sometimes people

6♣
disregard other facts that The risks of myopic vision are willing to go with
support different are heightened when a any solution if they’ve
conclusions. solution suddenly appears been searching for a
Groupthink Tip: Also known as after a long and arduous few hours, even if it’s

3♣ When individuals peer pressure. search. less than optimal.

intentionally conform to Sometimes we think Tip: First impressions

The Anchoring Trap

7♣
what they perceive to be that something is safer count, but we need to
Decisions are unduly
the group consensus, they just because all our give people a second
influenced by initial
make bad decisions which friends are also doing it. chance.
information that shapes
would individually be our view of subsequent
considered unwise. information.
 Vividness effect
8♣
We tend to give more
weight to events which are
more concrete and vivid,
than those which are more
intangible and ambiguous.
The prudence trap
9♣
When faced with high
stakes decisions, we tend
to adjust our estimates or
forecasts “just to be on the
safe side”.
Incrementalism
10 ♣ Small maneuver without
any grand plan or sense of
ultimate purpose.
Law of diminishing
J♣
marginal utility
Although the payoff might
be double, psychologically,
you won’t feel twice as
good with $200 in your
pocket as you would with
$100. You’ll feel about 1.7
times as good.
Tip: Which is why we Role fulfillment Tip: Because people
Q♣
remember plane We conform to the expect us to be stupid,
crashes and terrorists decision making we make stupid
attacks better, even expectations that others decisions even though
though hundreds of have of someone in our we know better.
thousands may die of position.
diarrhoea. Tip: If you’re 3 years
The Sunk Cost Trap
K♣
Tip: If 3 consecutive into a 4-year course
Sunk costs are old
people under-estimated which is absolutely
investments of time or
the probability of an wrong for you, should
money that are now
event, the estimate will you continue?
irrecoverable.
be far off.
Tip: If a major sacrifice
is needed in order to
accomplish something,
a little bravery is
needed.
Tip: Which is why
Singaporeans are so
“kiasu” and less
entrepreneurial.
Possible Traps wild cards Inconsistency Tip: It’s always good to

Tip: It’s about recognising The unwillingness to revisit decision previously

Illusion of control
that there are certain apply the same decision made.
We tend to under-
estimate future things beyond our control. criteria in similar

uncertainty because we situations.

tend to believe we have Tip: Us Do we apply

Source credibility
more control over events double standards for
bias
than we really do. those we like and those
We reject something if
Recent event trap Tip: If a peaceful country we don’t?
we have a bias against
We tend to place more suddenly gets bombed,
the person or group. We
attention on more recent that doesn’t mean that the
are inclined to accept a
information and either entire country is unsafe.
statement by someone
ignore or forget more
we like.
distant information.
Buyers’ remorse Tip: Here, it’s interesting
Repetition bias Tip: People once believed
“If only I had gone to one to understand how a
A willingness to believe that the Earth was at the
more store”. It’s hard to person shops, and their
what we have been told centre of the universe, for
go through life regretting decision processes when
most often and by the example.
every decision you make doing so.
greatest number of
because it might not have
different of sources.
been the best possible.
Ascription of Tip: We tend to attribute
Faulty Tip: These simplifying
our success to our abilities
causality generalisations can bias
and talents, but we generalisations
We tend to ascribe decision making
attribute our failures to In order to simplify an
causation even when the processes.
bad luck and external extremely complex world,
evidence only suggests
factors. we tend to group things
correlation.
and people.

Diamonds | Methods
Decision Tree
A♦
Starting from the left of a large
piece of paper, draw out lines
towards the right for each
possible solution, giving each
solution a probabililty.
Pareto Analysis
2♦
Based on the 80-20 Pareto
principle, that 80% of the
problems are caused by 20%
of the possible factors.
Make your decisions
3♦
non-reversible
The very option of being
allowed to change our minds
seems to increase the chances
that we will.
Choosing Variety
4♦ Decision makers make
suboptimal choices simply for
the sake of variety.
Satisfice More and Tip: We should
5♦ Maximise Less learn to view limits
Learning to accept “good on possibilities we
Tip: It’s amazing
face as liberating
how graphically enough” will simplify decisions
making and increase and not
illustrating the
satisfaction. constraining.
options that are
available clarifies Six Thinking Hats Tip: Created by
6♦
thinking. White Hat: focus on the data Edward de Bono.
available. Read his book, Six
Tip: When damage
Thinking Hats, for
control is the only Red Hat: use intuition, gut
reaction, and emotion. more.
possible action.
Tackle the change Black Hat: look at a situation
that will give you cautiously and defensively.
the biggest benefit Yellow Hat: think positively.
first. Green Hat: develop creative
Tip: Marriage is a solutions.
Blue Hat: process control.
good example of a
choice that should Consequences Table Tip: If 2 solutions
7♦
be made non- Create an empty matrix, and are equal in 1 area,
reversible. list your objectives down the while 1 solution
left side of the box, and your surpasses the other
solutions along the top. in all other areas,
Tip: Useful for less
then a solution is
important
removed.
decisions, like your
daily meals!
 Hedging bets Tip: Diversifying Intuitive decision Tip: This method is

8♦
The less investors know about
a specific company, the wiser it
is to spread their investments
among several stocks.
Plus, Minus and
Q♦
risk improves our used by people
making
long-term security who are already
The sense of revelation at the
in most situations. experts in a given
obvious when your conscious
field, and need to
mind finally learns something
Tip: An make decisions
that your subconscious mind

9♦
improvement to the quickly.
Interesting already knew.
'weighing pros and Tip: This technique
Draw up a table. 'Plus column: Mixed scanning

K♦
cons' technique. is used by doctor
positive results of taking the Mixture of shallow and deep
action. Minus column: negative examination of data, for quick diagnosis

effects. Interesting column: generalised consideration of a of medical

possible outcomes of taking broad range of facts and problems, and to

the action. choices followed by detailed test their

Tip: This is about examination of a focused hypotheses.

2nd Order Decisions

10♦ If you adopt the rule that you choosing when to subset of facts and choices.

will never cheat on your choose.

partner, you will eliminate

countless painful and tempting
decisions that might confront
you later on.
Fishbowl Tip: Friends can

J♦ Have one of your members or provide a more

a friend to stand outside the objective

decision-making process, to counterpoint to

observe and critique how the your decision-

decision was made. making process.

Possible Methods wild cards Decision staggering Tip: Use when the

Tip: Sometimes we Allows you to see a partial results of such a

Practice an Attitude
don’t need to have result of your intervention solution are
of Gratitude
the best that life can under conditions similar unknown.
We can vastly improve our
offer. those in which the rest of
subjective experience by
the intervention, if
consciously striving to be
necessary, will take place.
grateful more often for what
Think About the Tip: Don’t scratch
is good about a choice or
unless there’s an itch.
experience. Opportunity Costs
The Delphi Method Tip: This is for when Unless you’re truly

A systematic, interactive you get three experts dissatisfied, stick with what

forecasting method. together, and find you always buy. Don’t be

Selected experts answer that you'll often end tempted by “new and

questionnaires in two or up with several improved”.

more rounds. After each different opinions. It

round, a facilitator provides is believed that

an anonymous summary of during this process

the experts’ forecasts as the range of the

well as the reasons they answers will

provided for their decrease and the

judgments. Participants are group will converge

encouraged to revise their towards the "correct"

earlier answers in light of answer.

the replies of other

members.