THE DECISION MAP©
While the Needs Map lets us identify what someone needs in social interactions, the Decision Map reveals how they make most of their decisions. In sales, this will show you the thought process someone goes through before making a purchase. In interrogation, this will be the reason someone decides to confess. In the courtroom, a witness will decide to be honest, and a jury will be swayed by where they are on the Decision Map.
Download a high-resolution Decision Map at www.chasehughes.com/6mxbookresources
You can identify people quickly on the Decision Map visually. Even looking around a department store, you’d be able to spot where someone is on the Decision Map. When we don’t get compliance from a person, it’s often that we are pitching the wrong decision style to them, as you’ll see.
The Decision Map categories are interrelated, and people will most likely share two of the six categories.
The Decision Map consists of six ‘decision factors’ that filter how we make choices, from who we choose to sleep with to what car we buy. Let’s first look at each of the pillars:
Each of these pillars bleed into the one that’s closest to them.
For instance, someone driven toward Deviance (a departure from accepted norms) will also consider Novelty (how new something is) when making decisions. Someone rooted mostly in Novelty will tend toward Social and Deviance. A person who is in the Social category will also tend a bit toward Novelty and Conformity, and so on.
THE DECISION MAP UNPACKED
Each of the Decision Map, much like The Human Needs Map©, will have an associated question. Imagine thinking through those questions and knowing someone is going through that thought process as you interact with them. It’s truly magic, and the results, you’ll soon see, are absolutely astounding.
If you’re able to harness the power of the Needs Map and know what questions someone asks unconsciously, the six decision styles reveal yet another question that becomes the steering wheel of their decisions and actions.
DEVIANCE
Deviance decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on whether the action will help them deviate from normally accepted standards. Their personal appearance is set to show others that they don’t conform to typically accepted purchase behaviors and social norms.
NOVELTY
Novelty decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on whether the action will show that they are early adopters of new trends, technologies, and products. They will make decisions based on how ‘new’ the experience is and thrive on choosing behaviors that give them experiences they haven’t had before.
SOCIAL
Social decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on how the action will be viewed and interpreted by others. They are more likely to adapt to new trends in fashion, hide their flaws, and display behaviors designed to impress or please the people around them. Their decisions are regulated by their estimation of how their behaviors will be interpreted by others.
CONFORMITY
Conformity decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on whether the action will maintain their status in a social group. They typically are averse to radical shifts in behavior and will make decisions based on how it will appear to their close peer group. As conformity decision-makers choose their actions, they will consider the social implications first and whether or not their close peers are doing similar things.
INVESTMENT
Investment decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on how the action could affect them on an investment level. The return-on-investment is usually the guiding factor. They are prone to overanalyze unless they are primed to be completely receptive.
Just looking at this list, you can see how easy these people might be to identify from across a room. If you were in an airport restaurant, how fast could you look around the room and identify someone who’s a Deviance decision maker? Pretty quick.
In a crowded restaurant, could you find the Conformity decision maker? Absolutely. They would have clothing that was chosen to conform to their culture. If you’re looking at a Conformity person who is higher-income, you’d see the same khaki slacks that you see anywhere and the same sweater-vest that lots of other people in the same job tend to wear.
NECESSITY
Necessity decision-makers will choose products, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, friends, personal image, and decor based on whether the action will fulfill a specific purpose. They weigh options more than others and will typically be more patient with decision making unless they are triggered by the limbic system to act.
BUYING A CELL PHONE CASE
Let’s use something small and silly as an example to demonstrate how the Decision Map permeates into every aspect of our lives.
If you walked into an electronics store and stood in the aisle of cell phone cases with someone from each of the pillars on the Decision Map, you’d still be able to spot them, even if they were all wearing a disguise.
Our decisions, big or small, are filtered through one of the six pillars of the Decision Map:
The Deviance person will be looking for the case that really stands out. Maybe the one in the shape of an oversized cat, or one with bright colors or lights.
The Novelty person would be standing there, looking through the options, trying to find the clearest and minimal case possible. This would allow everyone they interact with to notice the brand-new iPhone they just bought—and probably got on the day it was released.
The Social person would be kneeling, looking at all the transparent phone cases that contained glitter. They’re asking themselves, ‘What’s going to help me connect to others?’ They might be reaching for the one with a sports team logo on it or one that draws attention.
The Conformity person would be looking for the case that doesn’t stand out too much and matches the case that looks most like what everyone else has.
We all know a Necessity person. Everyone begs them to upgrade to a new phone. Their phone is riddled with cracks, and they assure you, ‘It works just fine for me. I don’t need a new one.’ But let’s assume they finally broke down and bought a new phone. They’d be there in the aisle, looking for either the cheapest case or the one that is going to last a lifetime.
An investment person would study the phone cases for just a little longer. They need a case that will protect the phone as much as possible, giving them the maximum return on investment for their precious new phone that they also chose because of its perceived return on investment.
We could run the same scenario in a bar, where the same six people would be choosing a potential mate. They would choose someone close to them on the six-pillars initially but would decide to move forward with the relationship based on the questions associated with each of the pillars.
From buying houses to cell phone cases, the Six decision styles tend to be the ‘hand on the wheel’ when we make choices and decisions. Spotting this is critical to understanding their behavior. Body language skills are no match for behavior profiling at this level.
Let’s go through a few examples:
Example: (interrogation)
A suspect is escorted into the station, and you notice their arms are covered in tattoos. They also have hair that’s dyed blue and a few nose rings. You identify them as Deviance and decide to remove your collared shirt and tie, opting instead for a t-shirt or polo. In the interrogation room, you know the decision to confess is rooted in the question associated with their Decision Map location: Will this help me stand out or break cultural / social norms?
NOTE:
Interrogations are a lot like sales; sometimes they take a long time. If you were to go back to any online interrogation video that lasted over five hours before the suspect finally confessed, you’ll notice a shocking trend. The interrogator doesn’t have this training and is trying to relate to them and get information. Throughout the interrogation they use random scenarios/techniques to convince them to confess. However, when you get right to the confession, the interrogator accidentally uses language and ideas that speak to the suspect’s needs and decision style - the confession takes only minutes after that. Try it out!
Example: (dating)
You’re on a second date with someone, and you are starting to like them. You identified them early on as Novelty - so are you. When you sit down to eat, you show them the brand-new phone that just came out, and you both make it a third date to get them one as well.
Example: (sales)
You have been introduced to a customer who is interested in buying a new home. As they walk into your office, you notice their hair, shoes, clothing, and everything else is all similar to everyone else in their income bracket. Later in the conversation, you hear them talk about friends on the golf course, the country club they belong to, and vacations they take with other couples. You’ve spotted the pillars of a Conformity-decision-style, and Social-decision-style, and already know exactly what angle to approach from when you show them the house.
NOTE:
Conformity is common in both high- and low-income areas. If you were to stand in the street of a fancy neighborhood in the morning, you’d no doubt see everyone walk outside to leave for work. They would all be wearing similar slacks, shirts, ties, and haircuts. They’d climb into their similar Lexus, Mercedes, or BMW and head off to work. All the grass is cut to the same length, and the yards all look remarkably similar. Even the Homeowner’s Association enforces conformity for the ‘good’ of the neighborhood. In a low-income neighborhood, you’d see much of the same. Similar clothing, cars, yards, and homes.
Example:
You’re a CIA Case Officer stationed in Europe. You’ve been tasked with recruiting an ‘asset’ to spy for the United States. As you make your first contact with the potential asset, you notice a waterproof case on their phone, a well-made shirt that is older but still looks great, and a wristwatch that looks as though it’s been passed down for a generation or two. You identify the asset as an Investment-decision-style, and immediately know that your pitch to him must include how his actions will provide a return on his investment. His decisions will be filtered through the question associated with his pillar: Is this investment or behavior going to provide me with a valuable return?
Usually, people we speak to will identify themselves on the Decision Map within the first few minutes of conversation. If they don’t, we have plenty of visual cues to help us identify or confirm our assessment.
The Decision Map is a powerful tool for any human interaction. It’s something you can start using immediately! Try it online now. Go to a friend’s social media page, and you’ll start to see how quickly these decision-styles present themselves to you now.
SUMMARY
The Decisions Map© is something I never wanted to release to the public. Most people who see it might assume it’s just another ‘little profiling tool’, but I can assure you it has been the key ingredient in over a thousand interrogations. Now, it’s the key ingredient in sales, jury trials, and even psychotherapy sessions around the world. This tool, when paired with the Needs Map, is what really makes this entire system an ‘X-Ray’. It was developed for the Jason Bourne folks, but anyone can now use the 6MX system.
Once you master these skills in the 6MX, you’ll have the x-ray vision to see between all of the lines. But that’s not enough. You will need to listen between the lines as well. In the next chapter, I’ll show you the razor-sharp method to hear the same words you’ve always heard in a way that exposes deep-level psychology.