Conditionals in Decisions

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

In 2011, Jeff Bezos faced a choice that would define Amazon's next decade: should he launch the Kindle Fire tablet knowing it would almost certainly lose money? He used a framework he called the "regret minimisation test" — imagining himself at eighty and asking which decision he would regret more. If he had not projected himself forward, he might never have launched. Grove used a similar logic: if a new manager walked in from outside, what would she do on day one?

Grammar Reference · Conditionals in Decisions

Zero conditional

For facts and habits. If decision-makers narrow the field early, they act faster.

Second conditional

For hypotheticals. If a new manager walked in today, what would she cut?

Third conditional

For past regret or alternate history. If Grove had not pivoted, Intel would have failed.

Common error

If we will decide... ✗ → If we decide... ✓ — no will in the if-clause

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Conditionals in Decisions

1.If Bezos forward to age eighty, he found clarity about the Kindle decision.

2.If Grove the window test in 1985, Intel might have stayed in memory chips.

3.If you a fatal flaw in your plan, you abandon it before acting.

4.Intel in the memory business if Grove had ignored the window test.

5.If a new external manager in today, what budget line would she cut first?

6.Klein argued that speed improves if teams the field of options earlier.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.Grove did not use the window test, so Intel stayed in memory chips too long.

2.You project yourself to age eighty, and the right choice becomes clearer.

3.Klein's teams find a fatal flaw, so they abandon the plan.

4.A new manager walks in from outside. She cuts the underperforming product line.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Conditionals in Decisions01classplan.ai