Stop Jumping to Solutions

• Published in: MIT Sloan management review 2016-08, Vol.57 (4), p.63
• Main Authors: Enders, Albrecht, König, Andreas, Barsoux, Jean-Louis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alliances; Decision making; Executives; Matrix; Services; Stakeholders; Strategic management
• ISSN: 1532-9194

The authors' research with with senior executives found that most of the executives are very good at decision making if the objectives are clear, and if the choice is between a set of specific, predefined options. However, when presented with complex decisions, executives tend to home in quickly on a couple of options, list what they see as the pros and cons, and spend the bulk of their time calculating or deliberating about how the competing courses of action stack up. Strategy is about managing difficult trade-offs around scarce resources, with many competing demands and high degrees of uncertainty. In turn, the quality of strategic decisions critically depends on having discerning and well-thought-through options and criteria. However, executives typically focus on too narrow a set of options and criteria without taking out-of the-box possibilities and conflicting stakeholder interests into account. Executives often use the decision matrix as an evaluation tool within a given decision grid. But the matrix's real value is when it is also used as a process tool that helps executives extend their decision frame beyond the obvious options and criteria so they can truly think out of the box. While the decision matrix is commonly used to visualize trade-offs with existing options and criteria, it also can provide a structured approach for looking beyond the obvious solutions and criteria.