decision-making | 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.

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.

Solution-Building™: The Rules, Part 1

Written on December 2, 2019.

Starting with this entry, I will be describing Solution-Building much more directly. The last several posts have provided some of the background thinking that led to the formulation of a series of guidelines, or rules, for using Solution-Building as a framework for better decision-making and problem-solving.

Solution-Building™: The Rules, Part 2

Written on December 27, 2019.

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I apologize for being offline for the past two weeks. I have been dealing with the passing of my 103-year-old father. This involved making many decisions, both on my own and in consultation with my family and people we needed to work with outside the family. Some were easy and some difficult, but I did my best to follow the principles I am writing about in this blog. It helped keep me focused on the essentials and on easing the burden on others, as well as myself.

Now, back to Solution-Building, picking up where we left off.

Solution-Building™: The Rules, Part 5

Written on February 23, 2020.

At the end of the last entry in this series, I said we would look at how we implement:

Tag: decision-making