One of the homework assignments for the course was to select a good friend outside the class and to have an in-depth discussion with her about her values related to some important decision she will be facing soon. I had my discussion with Kati and it was about her values related to choosing where to work after she would graduate.
I promised to Kati that I would compile the results and later present them to her in a nice format. This took some time but I got it finally done. I thought the resulting material were quite nice so I asked her if it’s okay to share them on my blog. Thanks for letting me do that Kati!
One use of value-focused thinking and decision analysis is to develop and evaluate alternatives. The core steps of this process are*:
1. Identify relevant values and organize them.
2. Use the values to develop alternatives for the decision.
3. Use the values to evaluate the alternatives.
One use of value-focused thinking and decision analysis is to develop and evaluate alternatives. The core steps of this process are*:
1. Identify relevant values and organize them.
2. Use the values to develop alternatives for the decision.
3. Use the values to evaluate the alternatives.
The following material is supposed to illustrate these steps.
Figure 1 shows some of Kati’s objectives related to the choice of work. The objectives are categorized to ‘means’ objectives and ‘fundamental’ objectives. Arrow from objective X to Y means that achieving X will contribute towards achieving Y. These objectives were identified in a discussion I had with Kati. I asked her questions such as ‘what would be important in your job?’, ‘why is that important?’, ‘what characteristics would your dream job have?’ and ‘how would you achieve that?’
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| Figure 1: Kati's objectives. |
I compiled the following manual so that it might help her to use the objectives. The items: forewords, definitions and generating alternatives are taken from the paper (Keeney 1994**). The first quotation is also from Keeney. Rest of the material is my own work.
Kati’s work objectives – Manual
Forewords. Conventional approaches to decision making focus on alternatives. However, alternatives are relevant only because they are means to achieve values. Therefore, thinking about decision situations should begin with thinking about values.
“Think outside the box – but inside the right sized box.”
Definitions. Fundamental objectives concern the ends that a decision maker values in a specific decision context; means objectives are methods to achieve ends.
“Think outside the box – but inside the right sized box.”
Definitions. Fundamental objectives concern the ends that a decision maker values in a specific decision context; means objectives are methods to achieve ends.
Developing alternatives:
1. Take one objective at a time and think of alternatives that might be very desirable if that were the only objectives. Consider, at least, all the most important objectives.
2. Consider two objectives at a time and try to generate alternatives that would be good for both. These alternatives are likely to be refinements or combinations of those created using single objectives.
3. Consider three objectives at a time etc.
“Don’t give up easily. The effort should be worthwhile. After all, you are doing one of the most important decisions in your life.”
Evaluating alternatives:
1. Create a table of alternatives, where each row corresponds to an alternative and a column corresponds to a fundamental objective.
2. Rate every alternative with respect to every objective. You can use, for example, the following evaluating scale: Best - xD :D :) :| :( - Worst
3. Discard each alternative which is worse than some other with respect to every objective.
4. Compare rest of the alternatives one pair at a time. Compare their differences in all regards. Take into account the magnitudes of their differences and importance of the objectives. Discard the worse alternative out of each pair unless only one alternative remains.
“Take time after making the initial choice. Carry it in your heart for a while, talk about it and see if anything changes your mind!”
*=There could be more detailed steps as well such as 'developing a measurement scale' and 'estimating the consequences of the alternatives'. The amount of precision that should be used is case specific.
1. Take one objective at a time and think of alternatives that might be very desirable if that were the only objectives. Consider, at least, all the most important objectives.
2. Consider two objectives at a time and try to generate alternatives that would be good for both. These alternatives are likely to be refinements or combinations of those created using single objectives.
3. Consider three objectives at a time etc.
“Don’t give up easily. The effort should be worthwhile. After all, you are doing one of the most important decisions in your life.”
Evaluating alternatives:
1. Create a table of alternatives, where each row corresponds to an alternative and a column corresponds to a fundamental objective.
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Pride
about work
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Giving to
others
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Enjoyment
of everyday work
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Resources
for the future
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Good life
outside of work
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Alternative
1
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Alternative 2
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Alternative 3
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Alternative 4
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2. Rate every alternative with respect to every objective. You can use, for example, the following evaluating scale: Best - xD :D :) :| :( - Worst
3. Discard each alternative which is worse than some other with respect to every objective.
4. Compare rest of the alternatives one pair at a time. Compare their differences in all regards. Take into account the magnitudes of their differences and importance of the objectives. Discard the worse alternative out of each pair unless only one alternative remains.
“Take time after making the initial choice. Carry it in your heart for a while, talk about it and see if anything changes your mind!”
*=There could be more detailed steps as well such as 'developing a measurement scale' and 'estimating the consequences of the alternatives'. The amount of precision that should be used is case specific.
**= Keeney 1994, Creativity in decision making with value-focused thinking. Sloan Management Review
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