Summary of the Sole Writers SIG Meeting

Held November 3, 1997 on Decision Making

In the season's second meeting, we discussed decision making. About eleven people showed up for the 1.5 hour meeting, which ran along the following lines:

The outline for the session was derived from a book called: Decision Traps by JE.Russo and J.H.Schoemaker.
The format was moderated discussion...with emphasis on the discussion.
Setting the stage for the topic. How decision-making relates to assertiveness, and how we will connect both to our next topic...inventiveness.
Decision traps. We defined a list of "traps" that impede good decision-making. Participants took turns reading descriptions aloud.
Process. We discussed the process of making decisions and compared it to a process outlined in the text.
Meta-decisions. These are decisions about the decision we're trying to make. We used the story of Pepsi Cola as an example. Pepsi struggled for years to compete with Coke's bottle shape. Then, they realized they were solving the wrong problem. The key was bottle size, not shape. They invented the big bottle, Coke could not adapt its shape to that size, and Pepsi began competing successfully.
Yardsticks. There is more than one way to frame a decision. We discussed brain-teaser problems that pitted fixed monetary values against dollar percentages. Would you walk two blocks to save $20 on an $80 watch? Would you walk two blocks to save $20 on a $10,000 car?
Metaphors. The role of metaphors in decisions. Do you see the world as a sports game? as a war between competitors? law of the jungle?
Busting traps. Techniques for avoiding decision traps.
Conclusion. We ended with thoughts about the role of the individual in making decisions. Thought => Decision => Action. If you aren't aware of your thoughts, then your decisions are reactive and uncontrolled. Awareness leads to proactive decision-making. The key is to find a technique that makes you aware of your own thoughts, something that helps you view your own thought processes from a detached perspective.
Supplementary pointers attached below.

Supplementary Pointers

We handed out printed material from Web sites:

Decision Systems Laboratory (mostly AI decision research)
http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~dsl/
DAS - Decision Analysis Society
Booklist: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~dsl/da-books.html
Song lyrics:
http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~wellman/decisions.html
Why it's better to ignore the weather forecast:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rajm/umbrnat.htm
Decision process guidebook (a well-designed site):
http://www.usbr.gov/Decision-Process/decision.htm
Career Decisions: The Process
http://www.yale.edu/career/counseling/process.html
The Process of Making Shared Decisions
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/fac/decision.htm