Decision frameworks

Benjamin Franklin is considered the creator of the pros and cons method of decision making. It is one of the most basic and intuitive techniques but it can be very powerful, especially when agumented to create the quantitive pros and cons model. In the basic model you simply make a list of positive outcomes to the decision and a list of negative outcomes to a decision. Whichever list is the longest wins. In the quantitavie pros and cons version, you give each outcome an importance score between 1 and 10. By adding the scores you can decide if the decision should be taken or not.

DACI is a team-based decision communication framework. It sets up the roles for a particular decision. Another framework could be used for the actual decision making process. The DACI acronym stands for: D = Driver. This is the promoter who owns the project or decision. A = Approver. Is ideally just one person who makes the final decision. C = Contributors. These are all the people who will work on the decision but that will not be involved in actually making the decision. I = Informed. These people just need to be notified of the final decision but are not involved in the decision making.

SWOT is one of the best known decision making techniques. It is a framework to map out where a company or project sits in the landscape relative to the competition. The SWOT acronym stands for: S = Strengths: attributes of the project or business that can be considered to be (relatively) stronger the competition. W = Weaknesses: attributes of the project or business that are weaker than the competition. O = Opportunities: attributes of the project or business (or external factors) that can be worked on in order to increase internal strengths. T = Threats: generally competitors or economic conditions that can negatively impact the success of the project / business.

MoScoW is a decision framework to help you figure out what the scope of a project or initiative should be. It began in the open source software world and is now used extensively in product management. The MoSCoW acronym stands for: M = Must haves. The list of attributes that are non-negotiable. S = Should haves. The attributes that would be there if possible. C = Could haves. These are nice to have items that can be left out. W = Won't have. These are attributes that have definitely been ruled out.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple two-by-two matrix that helps you to categorize tasks. It is sometimes called the Urgent / Important matrix. In the top-left square you put the tasks that are both urgent and important. In the top-right square you put tasks that are not urgent but are important, this square is usually considered to be the one that you should focus on. The bottom-left quadrant is for tasks that are urgent but not important and the last quadrant is for tasks that are not urgent and not important (do not do these).

Ikigai is a Japanese technique for determining if your life is on the right path. It roughly translates as "reason for living". To find your Ikigai, you write down four categories of things: (1) What do you love. (2) What are you good at. (3) What does the world need. (4) What can you get paid for. Your "passion" is the intersection of (1) and (2). Your "mission" is the intersection of (1) and (3). Your profession is the intersection of (2) and (3). Your "vocation" is the intersection of (3) and (4). Finally, your Ikigai is the intersection of all four elements.

SPADE is a team decision making framework popularized by Square. The SPADE acronym stands for: S = Setting, why does this decision matter. P = People, who is involved and the decision maker. A = Alternatives, what are the feasible alternatives to the option under consideration. D = Decide, everyone involved should privately vote on whether or not to take the option. E = Explain, the decision maker should then explain the impact of the decision.

The Modified Borda Count is a method for a team to decide the best option out of a selection of options. It is best explained with an example. Let's say that a team of 4 people are trying to decide which of 5 options to take. Instead of just voting for their favourite option, everyone should list all 5 options in their order of preference. When there are 5 options, your favourite is given a score of 1 and your least favourite is given a score of 5. When you average the results from the team the option with the lowest average score wins.

Kanban is a Japanese word that roughly translates to "visual signal". It has been popularized by Trello.com and the software development community. It can be used to decide what work needs to be done and what to do next. It then visually keeps track of the progress of items as they flow the left-most column (generally called "To do" or "Backlog") all the way to the right-most column (generally called "Done"). The intermediate columns can vary depending on the type of project that you are working on.

The SMART method is a framework used to help you decide the specific structure of a goal or objective (usually in a business). It lists the requirements for a properly formatted goal. The SMART acronym stands for: S = Specific, what exactly needs to be accomplished. M = Measurable, how will progress be measured, use numbers in the formulation of the goal. A = Achievable, your goal needs to be doable within the allotted timeframe, otherwise it will damage morale. R = Relevant, the benefit of achieving the goal should be relatable to a higher purpose in the organization. T = Time-bound, a deadline should be set in order to focus efforts.

RICE is a decisions framework developed by the company Intercom. It is used to decide what projects should be undertaken. Projects are scored based on (1) Reach, (2) Impact, (3) Confidence and (4) Effort. Reach is the number of customers that would affected by the project. Impact is how much each individual customer would be impacted. (3) Confidence is how sure the team is that the impact will be felt by the customers. Finally, Effort determines how much work is needed to implement the project. The RICE score is calculated by muliplying (R x I x C) and dividing by E.

Cynefin is a framework for categorizing the kind of problem you are facing, which will determine the type of response that you need to take. The five categories are called: (1) Obvious, (2) Complex, (3) Complicated, (4) Chaotic and (5) Disorder. There are different options for dealing with problems that fall into different categories. Most business problems fall into the "Complicated" category. There is a relationship between cause and effect but it may take very careful analysis and specialized skills to see the relationships. There are generally multiple correct answers to this type of problem with varying degrees of success.

The Hoy-Tarter model helps you decide who on your team should be involved in a decision. It is a two-by-two matrix. The x-axis is "Is this decision important for an individual team member?" Yes or No. Along the y-axis the question is: "Does this team member have specific skills that can help with this problem?" Answer: Yes or No. If a member of your team has two "Yes" answers, you should definitely include them in the decision. If they have two "No" answers, you should leave them out of the decision. If they have one "Yes" and one "No" you need to decide based on the results for all other teammates.

The Six Thinking Hats is a decision making framework created by Edward de Bono. You use this framework to look at your problem from different perspectives. When making an important decision you should put on each of the colored hats. You metaphorically put on the "Blue hat" and think about the big picture. You put on the "White hat" when conisdering all of the facts and figures that you have. You put on the "Red hat" and think about your emotions and gut feelings. The "Black hat" is used for thinking about all of the negative consequences. The "Yellow hat" is for thinking about all of the positive consequences and finally the "Green hat" is used to try and think of any new ideas that have not yet been considered.

Hartnett's consensus-oriented decision model is a process for running a meeting to try and find unanimus or near unanimus agreement on a decision among a team. There are seven steps in the process. (1) Outline the problem: the team leader should explain the problem in detail. (2) Opening discusssion: this should be a free form discussion of the problem, everyone should be encouraged to contribute thoughts. (3) Underlying worries: everyone in the meeting should be asked about their personal concerns relating to the problem. (4) Develop proposals: each team member should be asked if they have a solution that they would like to suggest. (5) Determine course: the team leader should ask each team member what they think of each proposal. (6) Propose solution: the group leader should pick a solution that appears to have the most support. (7) Closing: The team leader should summarize the decision and how they came to that decision.

Vroom-Yetton is a decision framework to help leader determine how autocratic or collaborative they should be with a specific decision. When using the model you have to answer yes or no to seven different questions in a specific order. The answer to those questions will determin which category of decision it is. (A1) Autocratic: take the decision yourself. (A2) Autocratic: take the decision yourself but consult your team for specific information. (C1) Consultative: ask your team individually for their opinions but you make the final decision. (C2) Consultative: get your entire team together to discuss the decision but you still make the final decision. (G2) Collaborative: get the team together to discuss and try to get a consensus among the entire team.

OODA loops originated in the US Air Force but has been adapted for business applications. It is an ongoing decision process where you use feedback from output of the loop to update your assumptions the next time round. The acronym stands for: O = Observe, O = Orient, D = Decide, A = Act. In the Observe phase you gather all relevant information. In Orient you evaluate all of the information and landscape that you are operating in. In the Decide phase you make assumptions and pick what you assume to be the best one. And finally, in the Act phase you implement your decision but also crucially capture new information that result from your actions. This new information is then added to a new Observe phase and you repeat the cycle.