decisions - made to work better

DecisionsMade to work Better

Decisions: made to work better

• Bad decisions are plentiful enough… Scrutinized over time, the many ways that they became bad start to recur and surface.

• We start to get a picture that addresses the question, “if you could make it over again, what would you change?”

• By keeping tabs on those reasons or causes by source, type, and relative co-incidence, we eventually get to “model” the composition of a decision that, by lacking the faults, is allowed to be a good one.

• Our model shows four basic characteristics of a good decision, as affected by four different stages in “producing” the decision.

“Making”a decision

DECISION KEYS

Scope Requirement Need Culture

domain / method validation / fit relevance / alignment acceptance / adoption

usable

important difference priority

appropriate compliance compatibility

clear quality visibility benefit

Research and assess first Needs are not requirements Solve the right problem Invest, don’t “spend”

VALUE WORTH

Note:

Bad decisions are characterized by one or more of three things: complications, unmet expectations, and unintended consequences. Avoiding bad decisions begins during the process of making them. Therefore, the idea is to preclude or minimize whatever encourages those deficiencies.

Key considerations of scope, requirement, need, and culture should progressively build the basis (and limits) for expectations regarding the decision’s probable influence and supportability. This covers all aspects of the distinction made by a decision: how it is made, what it is, why it matters, and who cares.

A “good” decision will have some key attributes that are evident both when the decision is first made and after the decision starts to have an effect. It will be clear, appropriate, important, and finally, confidently usable.

©2016 Malcolm Ryder / Archestra Research

Easy vs. harddecisions

DECISION KEYS



usable technique credibility effect manageability

important impact difference priority plan

appropriate history compliance compatibility responsibility

clear logic quality visibility benefit


VALUE WORTH

Note:

The full set of pertinent factors looks like too much work to do for many instances and types of decisions. But it is typical that many of the factors may already be known and understood, without need for concern. What matters is to not neglect any factors; awareness of what could have an influence helps to create sensitivity to any that may currently pose risks .


Earlyright-sizing

DECISION KEYS

Scope

domain / method

usable technique

important impact

appropriate history

clear logic

Research and assess firstNote:

The notion of minimum viable effort is significant for determining how much burden should be taken on – such as costs, degree of difficulty, and range of impacts. Unnecessary burden reduces the ease of adoption and sustainability, and can easily accompany the use of an insufficiently vetted approach. Don’t base decisions on unexamined assumptions.

Habits and standards can be convenient in important ways but they may also risk imposing rigidity on a situation that has important specifics currently needing flexibility or change.


Account forExpectations

DECISION KEYS

Scope Requirement

domain / method validation / fit

usable technique credibility

important impact difference

appropriate history compliance

clear logic quality

Research and assess first Needs are not requirements

VALUE

Note:

The feasibility of the effort comes from the likelihood that the execution can be sustained by force of the primary actor’s will. Challenges to that capability cannot be left in place as show-stoppers. Challenges can be latent or immediate; implicit or explicit.

“Value” is nothing less, but nothing more, than the significance of a difference that is made. The way the difference is made must push the significance across a minimum threshold of interest.


Declarefocus

DECISION KEYS

Scope Requirement Need

domain / method validation / fit relevance / alignment

usable technique credibility effect

important impact difference priority

appropriate history compliance compatibility

clear logic quality visibility

Research and assess first Needs are not requirements Solve the right problem

VALUE

Note:

The idea of “Needs” is frequently misunderstood. One meaning of “need” is Pre-requisite. A different meaning of “need” is Intent. To resolve the confusion about needs, pre-requisites must be distinguished and identified in scoped Requirements, while Intent must be explicitly designated for the specific outcome that is the subject of the decision.

WORTH

“Worth” is the degree and type of benefit that a given party obtains with the available value. Worth is targeted and pursued.


Commit to choice

DECISION KEYS



usable technique credibility effect manageability

important impact difference priority plan

appropriate history compliance compatibility responsibility

clear logic quality visibility benefit


VALUE WORTH

Note:

The aftermath of a decision creates experiences in the affected environment. But the environment already has its own dynamics that predispose a tolerance for or resistance to the experiences provoked by the decision. To allow the best opportunity for the decision to succeed, reactions to the decision need to be foreseen and organized to help.


DecisionSupport



PRACTICES TESTING ANALYSIS PORTFOLIOS


VALUE WORTH

Note:

The generic model of “decisioning” is both scalable and portable across different kinds of situations. As a way of highlighting familiar modes of decision support seen at a business level, the below offers four examples of “typical” activities that already recruit and control attention to the key factors in building up and sticking to a good decision.


decisions - made to work better

Education