Decision making technique for Management Decision Making

“Nothing is More Important” – Than Problem Solving and Decision Making

In "Research Briefings" (1986), Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon (father of Artificial Intelligence) states:

“The work of managers, of scientists, of engineers, of lawyers – the work that steers the course of society and its economic and government organizations – is largely work of making decisions and solving problems. It is work of choosing issues that require attention, setting goals, finding or designing suitable courses of action, and evaluating and choosing among alternative actions. The first three of these activities – fixing agendas, setting goals, and designing actions – are usually called problem solving, the last, evaluating and choosing, is usually called decision making. Nothing is more important for the well-being of society than that this work be performed effectively, that we address successfully the many problems requiring attention at the national level (the budget and trade deficits, AIDS, national security, the mitigation of earthquake damage), at the level of business organizations (product improvement, efficiency of production, choice of investments), and at the level of our individual lives (choosing a career or a school, buying a house).”

More on the Need for a Decision Making Model

In "Complex Problem Solving" (1991), edited by Sternberg and Frensch, Wagner states:

“Mintzberg’s (1973) influential studies of what managers actually do, as opposed to what they are supposed to do, or what they say they do, provided unwelcome news to proponents of rational approaches to managerial problem solving. Mintzberg found that even successful managers rarely, if ever, employed rational approaches. Rather than following a step-by-step sequence from problem definition to problem solution, managers typically groped along with only vague impressions about the nature of the problems they were dealing with, and with little idea of what the ultimate solution would be until they found it (Mintzberg, Raisinghani, and Theorel, 1976). Isenberg (1984) reached a similar conclusion in his analysis of how senior managers solve problems. The senior managers he studied did not follow the rational model of first defining problems, next assessing possible causes, and only then taking action to solve the problem. Instead they worked from general overriding concerns, and they worked simultaneously at a number of problems.”

There Is a Great Need for a Foundation Devoted to Decision Making and Problem Solving

In "Decision Making" (1982) Herbert Simon states:

“Although a number of projects have been and are funded by private foundations, there appears to be at present no foundation for which decision making and problem solving are a major focus of interest.”

Here it is 25 years later, and we still don’t have a foundation to fill this need. In February 2007 I hit 91 years of age. There is a need for a foundation devoted to decision making and problem solving to continue and expand my efforts. Please spread the word about the need for a foundation.

How much a foundation spends is not usually a measure of how much good it accomplishes. Problem solving and decision making improvement by millions of people could cause such a tremendous contribution to making America and the world a better place to live. Therefore, I claim that a foundation devoted to problem solving and decision making endowed with $50 million or less could equal what a foundation endowed with $500 billion will accomplish.