Five Decision-Making Models- which to use when?

I was talking to a colleague today and he is doing some research on decision-making and asked me if I had any articles on it. I remembered I met a man several years ago who was a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin. He was doing research for his doctorate on how people make decisions.

I found his research/insight interesting. When people can't agree, it is often that the people trying to decide are using the differing decision models to support the specific situation. Consequently, they aren't on the "same page."

So here is a quick list of the different models. It might help you to help your group/family/customer make decisions more quickly if you had an understanding of each of these and used them in the appropropriate setting.

See the 5 different ways people make decisions below:

Quality/quantity (the "machine" model" -- this is the Kepner Trego model which is the most used model for decision-making. Engineers and CFOs love it. This assumes decisions can be made by assigning weights to the components of decisions, everything can be put into a spreadsheet, or one can use a calculator to make the decision)

Relationship (this is the "family model" -- everyone is part of multiple families, individual needs and preferences must be considered in the decision-making process. Bill Cosby understood rebuilding relationships that were bruised in life -- the decision is based on how it impacts relations with peers, customers, etc.)

Political (this is the "executive suite" model, forget productivity, forget relationships, the only thing that matters is “my power” -- persuade others to do something to get more personal power)

Symbols/image (this is "symbols" model, or packaging, that it is more important than the contents, perceptions is reality -- it is all smoke and mirrors and symbols -- what is the real value add?)

Chance ( this is being the "right person, at the right place" model, at the right time -- it is like buying a lottery ticket, you can buy a ticket as a game or think of it as your only way out of poverty., but at some point you have to cut your losses)

In answering the question of "which to use when," he said:

When deciding which model is best, you need to look at the problem you are addressing. At Hardes, they use the "machine" model for operations issues, but for the customer, they want customers to perceive they are the family, or relationship model. Companies will use the model that fits their objectives. (If you try to use the machine model with some groups, like nurses or educators, you will get sabotaged because they work best with a family model, churches work under the political model -- you need to look at the situation and which will serve the situation best.)

posted by Cardwell