Zooming out and then zooming in is a decision making technique Chip and Dan Heath teach in their excellent book, Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.
Why it matters: When it comes to decisions regarding your home, itās too easy to go on auto-pilot.
š Between the lines: Jess and Chris are getting a new garage door as part of an insurance claim where theyāre also getting a new roof, gutters, a few windows and getting their fence stained.
- Theyāre first time homeowners, and this is their first claim.
šĀ Zoom out: Because we donāt know what we donāt know, Jess and Chris didnāt know to ask these questions about their garage door.
- Do we have options besides the door we have?
- Is there a better door? If so, how much more does it cost?
š¬Ā Zoom in: A non-insulated steel garage door has an R-value of zero. In other words, it does not resist heat flow ā¦ at all.
- A double steel insulated door reduces heat flow by 90%!
- And costs about $300 more.
š„Ā The bottom line: When itās time to replace ANYTHING in your house, start by zooming out and asking about better options.
- For anything that is semi-permanent to permanent (from a garage door to insulation to a better shingle or higher performance method for installing siding), the cost to upgrade is usually worth it!
ā Ā For your Smart Homeowner list
- Iāll leave you with one more nugget from Chip and Dan ā āThe best friend test.ā
- When youāre making a decision for yourself, step back and think about it this way: If your best friend was asking you for advice on the same decision, what would you say?
Best,
Travis
P.S. Jess and Chris ARE getting the upgraded garage door. And since Iām doing the whole project for them, Iām including it as a way to say, āThanks for the business.ā š