MAG or MIN Which Are You?: Two Patterns of Decision-makingThat Make You Who You Are

There are two patterns of decision-making: Magnification and Minification and they define who you are. Magnifiers will make decisions based on the assumption that any task to be attempted will almost always work out, despite the odds against it. They ‘magnify’ the possibility of a favorable outcome. Minifiers will make decisions based on the assumption that any task to be attempted will seldom work out, despite the odds in favor of it. They ‘minify’ the possibility of a favorable outcome. Over the course of your life this becomes a pattern and ends up defining who you are. At the extremes both are equally dysfunctional and lead to lives of chronic problems. But, the pattern can change. Both “Mags” and “Mins” can learn to be make better decisions based on a better assessment of the actual probability of a favorable or an unfavorable outcome. Because this pattern defines your Self, changing the pattern changes the self and your relationships. And this changes your life. The charts in the book depict the two extremes of magnification and minification on a continuum, with a middle range where people function at a higher level of maturity and handle life’s challenges with fewer problems. A person’s overall pattern of decision-making, either Mag or Min, is shown as a sequence of decisions over time on either side, represented by a Home position located at a certain point on the continuum. The image on the cover anticipates the development of the charts in the book by depicting the two sides longitudinally with a peak in the middle. To change the pattern requires the work of moving the Home position, up toward the lighter, middle region from the more extreme, darker areas, from front to back over a lifetime. This book is a handbook for how to change the pattern. The framework is simple to grasp initially because the idea is intuitive. It is practical and powerful. Practical because it provides a way to change, based on the common, everyday experience of making decisions. Powerful because of the depth of its strong conceptual foundation in systems theory, philosophy and neuroscience.