Take the Guesswork out of Decision Making: How to Design and Apply Decision Models

“The most important thing teams do is make decisions. And yet, few teams are explicit about HOW those decisions get made.” - joe gerstandt he/him/his , diversity and inclusion expert.?

For organizations and individuals, decision-making makes the difference between success and failure. Combining logical analysis with intuitive decision-making can be tricky. Decision models can be powerful tools for bridging the gap between individual preference and objective criteria. Think of a decision model as a vacuum cleaner that uses filters, porous enough to let worthy options through and dense enough to trap the less-desirable ones.

Here are six easy steps to design your decision model:

1. Define the decision to be made. Keep it short and in the form of a question. Example: Where should we have lunch?
2. List ideas. Start by brainstorming a critical mass of ideas for options you want to consider. Write each idea on a sticky note. Example: Taco Bell. KFC. Chipotle. Ruth’s Chris. Skip lunch. Bring your own lunch. IMPORTANT: Don’t fall into the trap of designing the criteria first: groups waste time struggling over criteria before coming up with ideas, resulting in irrelevant criteria that adds unnecessary complexity to the process.?

1. Draw “filters” as a horizontal series of diamonds. See the illustration for an example.?

1. Add criteria to each filter. Criteria should be phrased as a quantifiable question. “Cost” is not a quantifiable question, but “Can we purchase a complete meal for less than $10?” is. Example: “Does this option cost less than $10?”

1. Test the ideas with filters. Physically move each sticky note with an idea across the filters, asking the quantifiable question of each idea. If the question can be answered in the affirmative, the idea passes through to the next filter. If not, the sticky remains “stuck” on that filter, like dust in a vacuum filter. Example: On the filter that asks, “Does this option cost less than $10?” Taco Bell would pass through to the next filter, but Ruth’s Chris would remain stuck on that filter.?

1. Iterate and clarify as you go. Both ideas and criteria will have to be clarified. Write additional details for both ideas and criteria on their respective sticky notes or filters. New criteria will have to be added. In a group, participants might not be happy with the outcomes. That’s great! It’s an opportunity to unpack their thinking and come up with a new criteria. Example: “Taco Bell: <$10.” Example: “Does this option cost less than $10 for an entire meal?” Example: “I don’t like most of the options that have passed through these filters!” “Why not?” “I don’t like fast food!” “Ok, let’s add another filter: ‘Does this place provide options other than fast food?’”

When deciding on criteria as a group, confirm suggestions with the whole group: don’t just accept one person’s input. Example: “Ok, so we’ve got the suggestion to include ‘does this place provide options other than fast food.’ Does anyone disagree with that criteria?”

Consider the horizontal placement of the filters. Place "must have" criteria on the left and "nice to have" criteria on the right. The resulting placement of ideas across the filters will be a prioritized list from right to left, where ideas that pass the most criteria will be towards the right and ideas that fail most criteria will be towards the left. This ordered list translates easily into a team backlog of tasks.?

While considering different projects or initiatives, some criteria to consider could be:

• Is the option valuable? (Is someone willing to pay for it?)?
• Will it attract a significant percentage of our customers?
• Is it rare or unique?
• Can competitors easily duplicate it?
• Are we equipped to execute the option?
• Does it help us achieve our vision or mission?

Remember, the process of designing a decision model may face resistance, so it's essential to make individuals feel safe enough early in the process to express their reactions candidly. You might consider working through a low-stakes example, like “Where might we go for lunch?” or “What should our next team building be?”

By using the power of filters in a decision model, you can unpack the typically unconscious process of decision-making and empower others in the organization to make decisions others can be confident in. Contact Lizard Brain today to learn more about how we can help your organization work through the decision-making process.?