The Art of the Difficult Decision
Grammar: Conditionals in decision-making language
A Business English English lesson exploring business.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on business, practising conditionals in decision-making language. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Art of the Difficult Decision
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 on every unit sold? He used a framework he called the "regret minimisation test" — imagining himself at eighty years old and asking which decision he would regret more. The tablet launched. By 2013, Amazon held roughly 35 per cent of the global tablet market. The regret minimisation test did not guarantee success; it simply clarified which risk was worth taking.
Vocabulary
- at
- for
- through
- to
Discussion questions
- When did you last have to make a decision you did not want to make?
- Do you trust gut feeling or hard data more in your professional life?
- Should a leader always explain the reasons behind a difficult decision?
The Art of the Difficult Decision
Grammar: Conditionals in decision-making language
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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