When you are hanging on a rope bridge above a raging torrent, terrified, how do you decide whether to go forward or turn back? When your relationship is on the brink, should you stay or go? When you’re faced with a wicked business decision, how do you choose the least worst option? There is no way of knowing, in the moment, whether your decision will be wise or foolish. Until now! Welcome to a new approach to making hard decisions successfully: System 3 Thinking.

Most of your choices are quick, intuitive, and largely subconscious. That’s system 1 thinking. Sometimes you need to stop and figure things out. That’s system 2 thinking. But when you’re facing doubt, dilemma, or disruption, it turns out neither system is definitive. You need a third system of thinking.

System 3 Thinking is an approach based on decades of research into the factors that influence people to make wise or foolish choices by organisational and integrative psychologist and leadership coach, Peter J Webb. Read and learn how to use System 3 Thinking to:

Focus - Pay attention to what really matters. Discern - What makes common sense from your life experience. Make small decisions first - Try small actions to find out what works best. Grow compassion - Demonstrate care for humanity through consistent action. Regulate your emotions - Tune into and use your emotions without feeling overwhelmed. Develop tolerance for divergent values - Acknowledge and appreciate different value systems.

If you are a leader in business, government, or community organisations, you’ll know the 21st Century is alive with wicked problems. And it’s up to you to solve at least some of them. And in your personal life, if you are looking for a more compassionate approach to life-changing decisions, this book will help you through.