Deciding Factors

Excerpt by: Anni Layne Rodgers
December 19, 2007

Today, government officials face uncertainty when making decisions involving America's military tactics, domestic policies, and economic problems. And beyond the beltway, business leaders encounter more questions than answers as they struggle to maintain or capture profitability in the midst of mounting unemployment, wavering consumer confidence, and volatile markets. In short, nothing is certain anymore.

"Gone are the days when you could eliminate uncertainty or wait to gather enough information to reduce uncertainty to negligible levels," says J. Edward Russo, coauthor of the book: Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Time (Doubleday/Currency, December 2001). "If you wait, someone will eat your lunch. Leaders today have got to respond adaptively as the world around them grows more complex and ambiguous."

History provides little strategic guidance, because no nation has ever faced this complex set of circumstances before. The decisions facing the White House are colossal, and the stakes could not be higher. At home, how do you keep American citizens alert to terrorist hazards, yet avoid widespread anxiety? How do you retain popular support when reporting even the smallest military victory may jeopardize troops' safety and success in Afghanistan? Abroad, how do you destroy Al Qaeda and its supporters while keeping innocent civilians safe? How do you unite an international coalition of allies without becoming entangled in long-standing political battles?

When the decision-making environment changes so too must the processes for investigation, evaluation, and action. That is why, during this period of unrelenting doubt and danger, leaders must rethink their decision-making techniques, says Russo, professor of marketing and behavior science at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He offers strategies for making smart decisions in an age of unknown threats and uncertain results. The only thing he's sure of: It won't hurt to try…

Full article: http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/archive/win_decision.html 

This article is one of many that is targeting the fact that decision making techniques and processes are vital. This one particularly sites investigation (step #one: due diligence), evaluation (step# three: solution) and action (step#4: action). They left out (step #3: commitment), but three out of four (the four steps of the MODELTM) is not bad.

Point is that a simple and reliable process gets more important as the weight of the decision gets heavier. If you would like a copy of the MODELTM process, please email the author and use the keyword: "zillions."