there are three components to a decision frame:
• Purpose- what you hope to accomplish by making the decision;
• Scope- what to include and exclude in the decision; and
• Perspective- your point of view about the decision, the ways you want to approach, or others may approach making the decision. Framing is like the zoom feature of the camera. What we include in the picture is the scope of the decision it, the angle for the best lighting and view is the perspective and what kind of picture we want, an action or landscape shot, is the purpose.
How to Frame a Decision
Begin by Asking and Answering the Following Questions:
• Make your Decision Statement (last week)
• Determine if the Decision is part of a bigger decision that should be addressed now.
• Determine whether you are covering too much ground with your decision if so reexamine the decision statement and make adjustments
• Ask why is this decision difficult to make? What factors are involved that make it difficult?
• Are you taking anything for a given? (e.g. are you depending on someone to react in a certain way?)
• Whose choice is it? Is the decision yours alone to make? Is there a customer, business, supplier, protester that needs to be involved to make it feel right?
• Is there anything that would keep you from acting if you saw the answer clearly? (e.g. a risk of the business closing if that option was the clear choice)
• How would someone you trust frame this decision?
Traps to Avoid:
• Jumping into the decision without framing the “picture”.
• Being limited by fears, peer pressure etc.
• Framing the problem too narrowly to bring it into your comfort zone or too broadly to make it difficult to address
• Making wrong assumptions-taking things as given that aren’t so or are not known for sure
This Week Begin to Build the Decision-Clarifying Values
Begin by Asking and Answering the Following Questions:
• What do I (company) really want out of this decision? What are my or the company’s objectives in making the decision?
• Is there any one value I am willing to give up to get more of another value? For instance, would I give up salary for the position or how it contributes to the community?
• How do the my (company) overall goals apply to this situation? For instance, the business wants to keep making money, how does this relate to the protestors?
• Can I explain why I am giving up one value for the other if the alternatives require that I do so?
• Do the values I choose to exchange take into account the people who are most affected by the decision?
• Are the values I am expressing consistent with my ethics or those of the company