Blog | Moving Beyond Compromise

Introducing the Moving Beyond Compromise Blog

Written on March 5, 2019.

This series of articles will explore group decision-making and problem-solving with the aim of examining the methods used and why they so often fail to deliver effective, or sometimes any, results. I will then look at a different approach to the two related activities of decision-making and problem-solving that can, if applied, lead to the outcomes we seek.

The overall “field” of studying decision-making and problem-solving is pretty vast, with many books, academic studies and articles, blogs, and even university classes about these subjects. In the course of these articles I will refer to some of the literature directly but will mainly focus on summarizing current practices being used and examine why they so often fail to succeed. Along the way I will offer up some new approaches.

Initially, I will be focusing on decision-making for businesses but later will go into applications in other settings.

The Decision-Making Process

Written on March 4, 2019.

Decision-making is a part of life. As individuals, we make decisions all day long, and it becomes so common that we hardly recognize most of them as, actually, decisions. Choosing a cup of tea instead of a cup of coffee is a decision, as is which tie to wear – assuming we wear ties, that is. We rarely spend any time making them and so most seem automatic and unimportant.

Decisions range from the trivial to the critical but, if you think about it, most fall into the category of the trivial. This does not mean that we do not use, to some degree, a process to make them.

Here are some approaches most of us use in our individual decision-making:

Considering Alternatives

Written on March 3, 2019.

As we discussed last week, the most common way individuals make decisions is to consider alternatives and make a choice. How individuals go about this process defines the extent, and even quality, of the alternatives among which they can choose.

To reiterate, the approaches to individual decision-making that I outlined are:

Decision Avoidance

Written on March 2, 2019.

Have you ever known someone who just could not make decisions? Of course you have; we all have. There are some people who just cannot, or will not, make a decision.

The Role of Emotion in Decision-Making

Written on March 1, 2019.

In the television and movie series Star Trek^®, the character of Spock was from a race, the Vulcans, who had rejected emotion in favor of pure logical analysis and thought. In the non-fictional world there is a discipline of Decision Analysis. One of its principles is that decisions should be guided by rational thought processes and the involvement of emotion is to be avoided. While this may sound like a good idea, we should question whether emotion can, or should, be avoided.

Emotion is a part of the human condition and has both physiological and psychological manifestations. They influence our decision-making in many ways.

Spectrum of Behaviors and Decision-Making Styles

Written on February 26, 2019.

In the last article, I listed a number of personality types:

Dominant – Submissive
Assertive – Passive
Pleasant – Abrasive
Outgoing – Withdrawn
Risk Takers – Risk Averse
Loud – Quiet
Take Charge – Follower
Impetuous – Thoughtful
Planner – Charge Ahead

This week I want to look at how some of these can either encourage or inhibit good decision-making in groups. Remember, this is my list; behavioral experts may disagree with it.

How do groups make decisions?

Written on September 1, 2019.

In the last couple of blogs, after looking at personality types and working styles of the wide range of members potentially involved in a group decision-making effort, I asked how a group that could be so disparate could make any decisions. In this entry we will look at how decisions typically are made in groups.