Collaborative decision making in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) involves negotiation among the parents and medical professionals involved with a premature baby. The authors introduce economist Herbert Simon's concept of "satisficing" as a model for collaborative decision making in the NICU. Satisficing (a hybrid of "satisfy" and "suffice") calls for considering the limits of our understanding when we must make hard choices. Health care professionals and parents must learn to accept that they might never know the truly "best" decision that could be made in a given situation. Collaborative decision making requires that parents and professionals strive to discern, and then pursue, the baby's best interests. Parents should be involved in the development of any institutional standards for collaborative decision making.