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Descartes Square

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  • September 18, 2017 at 10:53 am #169218
    Kevin Mahoney
    Participant

    Several months ago, someone introduced me to the decision making method called the “Descartes Square”. The name derives from the credited originator, French philosopher Rene Descartes.  The square comes from the fact that four decision making questions are placed separately in the four quarters of a square.  In the upper left hand quarter is the question “What will happen if this happens?”  Moving clockwise, the remaining questions ask “What will happen if this doesn’t happen?”, “What won’t happen if this doesn’t happen?” and “What won’t happen if this happens?”.

    A couple things stood out to me as I learned more about the Descartes Square.  First, I was struck by how simple and practical it is.  If you are like me, when exploring decisions on important matters you will naturally ask the first question “What will happen if this happens?”.  The important element of the square is that you also explore the consequences of not making a decision.  This can help provide a much needed reality check if we are inclined to seek perfect situations in an imperfect world.  Second, despite reading a decent amount of material about personal growth and development, I have never heard of the Descartes Square before.  If you have never done so, I would recommend utilizing the Descartes Square the next time you are faced with a tough decision.

    Does the Descartes Square seem like a viable tool for decision making? What methods do you find helpful in making decisions?

    September 19, 2017 at 10:10 am #169341
    PearceHawk
    Participant

    Kevin, Kevin, Kevin, my friend it’s good to see you my friend. As usual a fascinating post for I have never heard of Descartes Square. It seems to me that this is indeed a viable tool for decision making. Having no knowledge of this, on the surface it seems to have it’s limitations in that it is more useful in the corporate world. This is not to say it has limited or no value in our personal lives. For example, with me not being a part of the corporate world in any way, I think that the “higher ups” on the corporate world have an advantage in that they have more time to utilize this practice. They have more time to ask/ponder these questions in the corporate milieu such as the many meetings they attend. On a personal level I think it has great value when we consider “things” that we can afford to take the time to think about. Things such as taking time for a vacation, buying/selling a house, buying a cell phone for our teenagers. NOOOOOOOOOOO! But again on a personal level I think it has limited utility when it comes to a fire fight at home, that “spirited debate”, aka the fights all relationships have. I don’t think we have the time, or take advantage of the time available to us, to go through Descartes Square when engage in that all too familiar spousal fight. I prefer the term spirited debate.

    I would like to offer one other option that since I have now discovered Descartes Square. I call it Pearce Hawk’s Pentagon. In this scenario, unlike the square, this is a pentagon where when the issue at hand concerns a serious problem that affects me directly, there is one question I would add that makes it a pentagon. The question being, what is my contribution to the problem. Adding that can, I believe, enhance the questions in Descartes’ Square.

    I can assure you that I am going to include in my agenda today to get more familiar with Descartes Square since I think it can be something valuable I can add to my madness in looking at things differently.

    Good to see you again, my friend. Looking forward to what you think as always.

    Pearce

    September 20, 2017 at 2:05 pm #169601
    Kevin Mahoney
    Participant

    Glad you are back. I hope your travels went well and your time was productive…..

    As far as the DS it is interesting that many people who are focussed on growth have not heard of it. I went back and saw that kanedr mentioned it to me on a post months ago. I am glad he did because I have found it very helpful as I am currently going through the home buying process.

    As you said, it fits well in that type if situation. Like advice from an older relative that is valuable. It might not fit every situation but with the “big ones” it works well.

    Again, glad you are back online.

     

    September 21, 2017 at 1:33 pm #169703
    PearceHawk
    Participant

    Kevin it’s good to see you back as well. My trip was beyond amazing. What I experienced is something that I wish everyone would experience. How exciting, the home buying experience. The you get it you should have the obligatory new home move in gathering. Of course you don’t have to be there. Got ya covered. Scary image, huh? Please keep all your posts coming. I enjoy them.

    Pearce

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