New article from Doug Ringer - How to Make the Best Decision Every Time

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - May 13, 2015 - PRLog -- How-To Make the Best Decision Every Time

by Doug Ringer


A decision is a choice among the various ways possible of accomplishing a particular task or goal and making decisions is the most important task any manager will perform during her career. These decisions can be simple or complex impacting just a small part of the business or an entire multi-national corporation. Yet, even with the most rigorous decision-making process, a failure to follow-through with implementation can doom the entire project.

Full disclosure, this article is based on the portion of The Rational Manager by Kepner and Tregoe that deals with making decisions in a business setting.

Types of Decisions

There are at least 3 type of decisions that managers can make and they are based on the immediacy of the need and the ability to affect change in the situation. These are typically used in the problem solving arena.

1. Interim Action

The interim action is a short term decision that immediately reduces stress on the system. This is normally the first action taken and will "buy some time" until a final solution is implemented.

2. Adaptive Action

The adaptive action is used when the root cause cannot be determined or, once determined, cannot be altered. This type of action is also taken when the root cause is known but implementing a solution is either cost prohibitive or simply not possible in the current environment.

3. Corrective Action

This is the ultimate step in solving and eliminating the problem. This action meets all of the criteria to be successful:

The cause is identified
An effective and palatable solution is known
It can be implemented

The Seven Steps in Making a Decision

There are seven steps to making effective decisions in most situations:

1. Establish the objectives

2. Set the priorities of objectives

3. Develop alternatives

4. Evaluate these alternatives

5. Choose an interim solution

6. Assess the results

7. Implement controls

STEP ONE - Establish the objectives

The first step in solving any problem, whether simple or very complex, is to list the objectives and state them clearly. The adage "A problem well-defined is half-solved" is one of the few that hold true.

The questions to ask during the definition phase are:

What are you trying to accomplish?
What is to be done?

Every decision results in a transaction where a manager uses a portion of her resources to accomplish something. Since resources are finite, these choices require something else to be left undone.

STEP TWO - Classify the objectives

After you have completely defined the objectives of the decision, the next step is to classify or rank each of these objectives by their importance to the business.

These classifications are broken down into two categories - "must have" and "want to have." This system of ranking is not complicated but the multiple needs of the business  situation makes this process critical and possibly contentious.

1. Musts

There are 2  parts to the "must have" items. The first is that they are items that cannot be eliminated from the project; they are truly non-negotiable issues. The second is to set maximum and minimum performance limits and resource requirements for each of these "must have" items. The maximum and minimum requirements increases the chances accomplishing the goal by permitting the manager to prune the goals that are too costly to implement early on in the project.

2. Wants

There are always options or "wants" included in any project or decision. The risk of these "wants" is that they become "musts" during the most insidious of all project killers, "feature creep." To help prevent this, list all "wants" and rank them in relation to all other "wants." This sets their priority in the development process.

STEP 3 - Develop alternatives or options for action

Now that the objectives for the decision have been established and priorities set, it is time to develop alternatives for action.

The musts and wants we developed in step 2 are now the specifications for the decision. Use these specifications to develop multiple alternatives or options for action. The musts are easy because they are required. The final decision has to include them.

The wants are more difficult because even though they have been discussed and ranked, they are still optional. Ranking each of the wants helps focus the process and the result. Also, the manager's judgment, experience, and skills play a very important role in deciding the wants. To help with the process, ask these questions of each of Wants:

1. How else can we get this want?

2. How have others accomplished this?

3. What does the want imply about the situation?

Finding alternatives requires a patient, careful search for specific actions. A systematic approach creates efficiency.

STEP 4 - Evaluating options vs. objectives

You now have defined the problem, specified it thoroughly, and developed alternatives and options. It is now time to test these options against the objectives.

To do this:

1. Test each alternative against each specification

2. Use a simple GO/NO GO test with the musts

3. The wants require the use of judgment and experience

It is counter intuitive that the Musts are simpler to evaluate than the Wants. The Musts tend to be the minimum requirements for success and Wants seen as the options. However, since the wants are optional and resources limited, the decisions affecting the Wants have to be be evaluated with more rigor.

For the complete article, go to

http://dougringer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/How-To-M...