What is Jeff Bezos' Regret Minimization Framework?
How to prioritize what truly matters in the long run
Life is a series of trade-offs
Do you go to your son’s kindergarten recital or work a bit longer that evening?
Do you sign that job offer or risk everything to start a business?
Should I write on Substack for the world to see or keep it all quietly to myself?
I’m still struggling with this one.
Some decisions are fairly easy, straightforward and don’t require extensive thought.
Some decisions though could change the course of your life forever, often leaving you wondering…
did I make the right choice?
You could make those tough, life-changing decisions with a “hope for the best” approach (maybe lady luck on on your side), or you can apply a decision-making framework.
The Regret Minimization Framework
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, offers a powerful tool for making such decisions: the Regret Minimization Framework.
This framework helps you prioritize what truly matters in the long run, guiding you to make choices you'll look back on with minimal regret.
But first, what is regret?
It is essentially the feeling of disappointment caused by thinking that things could have been better if you had made different choices in the past.
It’s an emotional response to past actions or decisions that we perceive as mistakes, missed opportunities, or poor choices. And that emotional response is a fairly powerful reminder that we made the wrong call.
Anyone who says they have no life regrets is in denial.
We all make poor choices at times and regret them.
The Regret Minimization Framework stemmed from Jeff Bezos desire to minimize the likelihood of future regrets and to ensure that he pursued meaningful opportunities without fear of missed chances later in life.
Bezos coined this framework when he was considering leaving his lucrative banking job to start an online bookstore.
➡️ He projected himself forward to age 80 and imagined looking back on his life.
This exercise helped him assess whether he would regret not taking the risk to start a new business - now called Amazon.
I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, ‘OK, I’m looking back on my life.
I want to minimise the number of regrets I have.
And I knew that when I was 80, I was not going to regret having tried this.
I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal. I knew that if I failed, I wouldn’t regret that.
But I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. I knew that that would haunt me every day, and so, when I thought about it that way it was an incredibly easy decision
- Jeff Bezos
Take-home message:
The Regret Minimization Framework operates on the principle of self-reflection.
⭐️ When facing a tough decision, project yourself forward in life and imagine looking back at this moment.
🕰️ Will you regret it?
(I know an easy decision which you won’t regret - subscribing & sharing 😀)
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About the Author:
Nick is passionate about enabling people and businesses to reach their full potential. He taps into over 25+ years of truly diverse leadership experience, challenging the status quo - to ultimately define a clear strategic path forward and propel success.
Thought Leader | Board member | Founder of Aktina Group Consulting | Proud Father
While we may not how we will analyze and feel in the future, I agree, it's smart to get outside of ourselves to consider the risks, of not only acting but not acting. What is that saying about sins of commission and sins of omission. Smart article.