1. According to Pearl, what are the most important factors about which every business has to make critical decisions? Does this principle apply to the "business" of managing your life? Explain your answer in as much detail as possible.
2. Explain how Pearl's approach to optimizing sales at Modern Shed combines decision making with problem solving. To what extent can the model of decision making in Figure 8.1 be applied to the decisions that Pearl has made at Modern Shed?
3. To what extent does the rational approach to the decision-making process characterize Pearl's approach to optimizing sales at Modern Shed? Explain your answer by going through the steps of the process. Which steps definitely seem applicable? Which steps may or may not be applicable?
4. For each of the following questions, explain how your response is consistent with everything else you've said about Pearl: To what extent does intuition probably play a role in his approach to optimizing sales at Modern Shed? Do you see any danger of escalation of commitment in his approach (or his personality)? Why or why not? What level of risk propensity would you assign to Pearl-high, moderate, low?