Evaluate Alternatives

To make good decisions, you need to generate many possible alternatives and then weigh
their merits. Simple but powerful techniques can help you on both fronts.
Generate alternatives
To make an informed decision, you need to generate choices. After weighing the merits of a
variety of options, you’ll stand a better chance of making the best decision for the situation
you’re facing.

Avoid Narrow Thinking While Making Decisions

Marcello’s team has to decide what to do with a troubled advertising campaign. They keep
debating two options—retain the campaign, or scrap it and start over. A professional coach
shows how brainstorming a wider array of options can help the team get unstuck.

Brainstorm
To brainstorm alternatives for a decision, ask people involved in the decision to suggest any
ideas that come to mind. Or ask them to take a few minutes to develop their own lists of
ideas to share publicly.
These process guidelines can help you and your team brainstorm alternatives:

1. Write the decision for which the group will brainstorm alternatives on a whiteboard or
easel chart. Get agreement from everyone that the issue is stated correctly and
precisely.
2. Have individuals generate ideas for alternatives for the decision at hand. You can
use a structured or unstructured process to do this.
o In a structured process, ask for an idea from each person in turn. Participants
who don’t have an idea when it's their turn say "Pass." When everyone says
"pass" on a single round, the session is over.
o In an unstructured process, anyone can contribute an idea at any time. When
a full minute passes with no one offering a new idea, the session is over.
3. Record all ideas on the whiteboard or easel chart, in the exact words participants
used

4.When the brainstorming is over, look for similarities and overlaps among the ideas
generated. Put these into several general groupings. These groupings will be your
alternatives for the decision.

Here are some best practices for conducting a productive brainstorming session:

 A group of 5-15 people works best.

 Have a facilitator guide the session, so position and rank don’t influence group
members.
 Encourage a free flow of ideas.
 Remind everyone to accept all ideas offered without disputing, criticizing, or
correcting. The group or a subgroup will refine the ideas after the session.

Encourage productive dialogue

Use these tactics to encourage productive dialogue and boost participation during a meeting
aimed at generating alternatives for a decision:
  Make it clear at the outset that the final outcome is not predetermined and that
everyone's input will be valued.
 Encourage people to think outside of their familiar roles and use all available
information to generate alternatives.
 Recognize and thank people who share their ideas in a positive manner—especially
those who are willing to challenge your thinking.

One Frame of Reference Isn't Enough

David A. Garvin — Professor, Harvard Business School
To open up your point of view, be a contrarian when it's time to make decisions.
Promote fair process
Throughout the decision-making process, the people involved need to feel that it’s fair. That
means they believe their ideas are being acknowledged and considered, even if their
suggestions aren’t ultimately adopted.
When people see the process as fair, they’re more likely to generate alternatives and commit
to implementing the final decision.
To promote a fair process:
 Listen attentively. Don’t interrupt as group members explain their ideas.
 Acknowledge input. In a face-to-face meeting, make eye contact with the person
who is talking and nod your head to show that you hear what he or she is saying. In a
virtual meeting, verbally acknowledge that you’ve heard what participants said.
 Take notes. Keep a record yourself or appoint a note taker to demonstrate that
you’re considering people's ideas and that you respect their input.
 Be transparent. Clarify that while not all of your group's suggested alternatives will
be adopted, they will all be considered fairly.
 Foster participation. Ask questions and repeat answers to promote understanding,
debate, and the creation of new ideas. For example, you might say, "That’s a good
point. Vendor A does have excellent references. Do others share these views of
Vendor A? Has anyone identified any flaws in Vendor A's proposal?"
 Explain your reasoning. If you’re responsible for making the final decision, explain
the reasons for your ultimate choice to the group. Let people know how their ideas
affected the decision. If you elected not to adopt a particular alternative, explain why.
 Communicate outcomes. Once a decision has been made, clarify any new roles
and responsibilities deriving from the decision.
Assess alternatives
 Once you and your group have generated alternatives, you need to assess them and
decide which to select. To do this, determine how well each alternative meets the
objectives you established at the outset of the decision-making process.
 Techniques to help you compare alternatives include weighing a range of variables,
creating a prioritization matrix, making a trade-off table, and developing a decision
tree.

 Weigh variables
 Weighing variables helps you generate data and information to compare alternatives.
To weigh variables.
 1. Identify the variables that are important for the decision you’re facing. These could
include costs, benefits, and intangibles such as impact on your group’s or
organization’s reputation.
2. For each alternative you’ve generated, ask probing questions about the variables.
3. Analyze responses to the questions to compare the merits of the different
alternatives.

 Variable Sample questions

o Costs How much will this alternative cost?

o Will it result in a cost savings now or over the long term?
o Are there any hidden or delayed costs?
o Does this alternative meet budget constraints?
o Benefits What kind of profits will we realize if we implement this alternative?
o Will this alternative increase the quality of our product?
o Will customer satisfaction increase?
o Intangibles Will our reputation improve if we choose this alternative?
o Will our customers and/or our employees be more loyal?
o Time How long will it take to implement this alternative?
o Could there be delays? If so, how will delays affect schedules?
o Feasibility Can this alternative be implemented realistically?
o Are there any obstacles we’ll need to overcome?
o If we choose this alternative, what resistance might we encounter
inside or outside the organization?
o Resources How many people are needed to implement this alternative?
o Are they available?
o What other resources will we need?
o What other projects will suffer if resources are focused on this option?
o Risks What risks are associated with this alternative?
o Could this option result in loss of profits or competitive advantage?
o Will competitors respond to this course of action in ways that threaten
us? If so, how?
o Ethics Is this alternative legal?
o Is it in the best interests of the customers, the employees, and the
community in which we operate?
o Would we feel comfortable if other people knew about this alternative?

What Are We Not Considering

 
Simon Cohen — Founder of Global Tolerance, Writer, Broadcaster
About: When making a critical decision, it's important to discover what you are not
considering.

TOOL

Worksheet for Assessing Alternatives

Create a prioritization matrix
A prioritization matrix helps you to structure your decision-making process and evaluate your
options.
To create a prioritization matrix, follow these steps:

1. Identify your objectives for making the decision at hand.

 2. Make each objective a column header for your matrix.
3. Make each alternative for your decision a row.
4. For each objective, assign a value according to its relative importance (highest =
most important).
5. For each alternative, rate how well it would support each objective. Use a scale of 1
to 10 (10 = strongest support).
6. Multiply the alternative ratings by the objective values.
7. Add the results for the objectives to determine the total score for each alternative.
The alternative with the highest total score is your best decision.

 Increase profits (Value = 3) Implement quickly

(Value = 2) Minimize internal resources (Value = 1)
TOTAL
 Marketing campaign 9 x 3 = 27 6 x 2 = 12
2x1=2 41
 Website redesign project 2x3=6 8 x 2 = 16
3x1=3 25

In this decision, alternative A has the highest score and so would be your best choice.
Creating a Prioritization Matrix
 

 Make a trade-off table

To make a trade-off table, record the key pros and cons of each alternative for each
objective you’ve defined. Here’s an example:

 Profits Time to Implement

Internal Resources
 Marketing campaign Profits increase by $100,000 6 months
20 people required
 Website redesign project Profits increase by $10,000 4 months
15 people required

Now consider how important these factors are to your group and/or organization. Identify
compromises you’re willing to make.

Example
You decide that a $90,000 increase in profits would be worth the time of five extra people.
Develop a decision tree
Decision trees help you evaluate many different alternatives. In general, the more
alternatives you consider and the more detailed your tree, the more likely you’ll settle on an
alternative that supports your objectives.
However, a decision tree won’t automatically indicate your best course of action. To make
your final choice, you’ll still need to assess the information in the tree.
To develop a decision tree, document:
 Your alternatives
 The pros and cons associated with each alternative
 The uncertain events that could emerge from each alternative
 Consequences that would arise from each uncertain event
Example
You need to decide whether to continue manufacturing a component of a product internally
or outsource the work. The right choice could depend on whether demand for the product
increases or decreases.
Here’s a simplified version of the decision tree you might develop.

Example Decision Tree

Example
Analysis of this simplified decision tree suggests that the best course of action would be
Alternative B: outsource the work. That’s because this alternative offers the highest risk-
adjusted net present value.
Identify the concepts in this lesson that most apply to you and your situation. By more
closely examining your situation, you can determine which areas to focus on when practicing
new skills in your workplace.
Do you generate alternatives?
To make good decisions, you need to generate many possible alternatives, then weigh their
merits. Use this activity to consider how well you generate alternatives when making
decisions.
1. When brainstorming, do you always:
Encourage a free flow of ideas?

1. Yes

2. No
2. Remind everyone to accept all ideas offered without disputing, criticizing, or
correcting?

1. Yes

2. No
3. To encourage productive dialogue, do you:
Make it clear at the outset that the final outcome is not predetermined and that
everyone's input will be valued?

1. Yes

2. No
4. Encourage people to think outside of their familiar roles and use all available
information to generate alternatives?

1. Yes

2. No
 5. Recognize and thank people who share their ideas in a positive manner—especially
those who are willing to challenge your thinking?

1. Yes

2. No
6. To promote fair process, do you:
Listen attentively, without interrupting, as group members explain their ideas?

1. Yes

2. No
7. Clarify that while not all of your group's suggested alternatives will be adopted, they
will all be considered fairly?

1. Yes

2. No
8. Ask questions to promote understanding, debate, and creation of new ideas?

1. Yes

2. No
9. Explain the reasons for your ultimate choice to the group if you’re responsible for
making the final decision?

1. Yes

2. No
10. Clarify any new roles and responsibilities deriving from the decision once a decision
has been made?

1. Yes

2. No

1. Select two items above for which you answered NO. For those items, the next time
you make a decision, what actions can you take to help you generate more
alternatives when making decisions? How specifically will you change your behavior
or approach?
e ultimate choice once the decision is made.

1.
I ve to ask questions to trap everybody's idea.

2.

Reflect
Reflecting on your learning helps you apply relevant concepts to your job.
1. What new insights do you have that could benefit you or others in your workplace?
Alternative ideas we have to tra

Your entry will be saved for the On-the-Job section.

2. What are your biggest opportunities for applying concepts from this Lesson in your
workplace?
In professional life.