Decision Please

Every problem that I have — no matter how simple they may be — comes with a long list of assumptions that I’ve attached to them. I know that some of these assumptions may be inaccurate and will cause my problem statement to be inadequate or even misguided.
Many of my problems are a chain of events in which one problem leads to another, which leads to another. I have to force myself to work hard at tracking the root cause to get a more complete picture of how the problem I want to solve came into being. When I have a solid understanding of the root cause, (the entire chain of events), I can substantially reduce the inaccuracies of my problem statement and decide on the most appropriate plan of action.
My first step in getting rid of bad assumptions is to write a list and expose as many assumptions as I can — especially those that may seem the most obvious or in Einstein’s case ‘untouchable’.
Einstein was constantly writing things down because it allowed him to focus on the entire chain of events. It allowed him to go further and test all the assumptions he was making for validity: exposing the ways in which each problem might not be valid and the related consequences. This seemly simple process can reveal many of those bad assumptions that are self-imposed — allowing me to drop them from the problem statement.
Every day there are countless choices that I make without much thought. I tend to apply rules and copy solutions from my or others past experience rather than solve every problem encountered on a daily basis. I would have difficulty surviving if I had to apply problem solving techniques to every decision I faced. Malcolm Gladwell[1] refers to this decision making process as “Blink”. "Blink" happens very rapidly within "the locked room" of our unconscious; we need to take this ability seriously as it leads to important insights; it can also betray us because quick judgment is highly influenced by the environment and predispositions. This locked room is where we store our assumptions, some we accurately use and some needed to be challenged because they aren’t valid for the situation.
The key is to seek the balance between having to make a decision immediately and having the time to analyze the problem. General Powell's advice is don't take action if you have only enough information to give you less than a 40 percent chance of being right, but don't wait until you have enough facts to be 100 percent sure, because by then it is almost always too late. Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.
I have to work at strengthening and managing my decision making processes by paying attention and making corrections.
[1] Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. : Little, Brown and Company, January 11, 2005.