By: Roger Martin

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Here's a question to consider: when you are making decisions in your business and your life, are you making choices, or are you creating choices?

There's a difference, and that's what this book is all about. Most people make decisions by looking at the options, and choosing what author Roger Martin calls the "least worst" option.

Effective decision making requires more than that. It demands that we actively create new choices instead of accepting the ones that are presented to us.

Join us for the next 12 minutes as we explore a methodology for creating great choices, every single time.

Mental Models: How We Make Sense of the World

As human beings, we don't make decisions based on rational, unbiased logic. There are a bunch of reasons for this, but two of them stand out in particular.

First, we are all biased towards data that is immediately available to us. It's as though all we see is all there is.

Second, we take the data we have at our fingertips and create mental models of the world. So although our mental models get closer and closer to reality over time as our experience expands, they never quite reach full resolution. All models are an approximation, an incorrect version of the world as it actually is.

Our mental models are flawed in the following ways:

1. Our models are implicit. We are not consciously aware of our mental models. Again, we believe that we are just seeing reality.
2. Our models are sticky. We naturally seek out more information that confirm that our current mental models are true, so they tend to get stronger over time - whether or not they are an accurate representation of reality.
3. Our models are simplistic. Our minds are lazy and crave simplicity. This almost always leads to models that break down in a critical way because they aren't detailed enough.

This leads us to be overconfident in our understanding of the world, and jump to solutions that agree with our mental models.

Integrative Thinking: A New Way To Make Decisions

As the authors point out, there are three core principles at the heart of the Creating Great Choices decision making process.

Metacognition

The first principle is that we need to have a better understanding of our own way of thinking, starting with our existing mental models and their limitations.

Empathy

The second principle is that we need to have a deeper understanding of other people and how they think, ultimately uncovering the gaps in our own thinking and opportunities for collaboration.

Some people mistake empathy for asking how you would feel in the shoes of another person. Instead, it's getting a deep understanding of how the other person is feeling, right now. That means asking questions and showing a genuine desire to understand other people and avoiding making assumptions about the way they feel and think.

Luckily, empathy is a two way street. The more empathy you show for other people, the more they will show for you.

Creativity

The last principle is that we need to understand how to leverage our creative capacity to find the choices that help us break free from the trap of choosing the "least worst" option.

As you work on your creativity muscle, here are 5 principles to keep in mind.

1. Start with the problem to be solved. Creativity needs constraints.
2. Escape the tyranny of the blank piece of paper. Don't be afraid to start generating ideas based off of existing ideas and mental models. Creativity needs a place to start.
3. Learn the value of bad ideas. Great ideas come from having a lot of ideas. Sometimes bad ideas have the kernel of a great one.
4. Build to think. Don't generate abstract theories and ideas. Otherwise you'll have nothing to test.
5. Give yourself time. Great thinking, like any creative pursuit, requires time.

Now that we've got the basics covered, we'll spend the rest of the time in this summary focussing on a four stage process to create great choices.

Stage 1: Articulate the Models

The first phase of the process is all about understanding the problem in as much detail as you can, and setting yourself up to think differently about it.

There are four steps.

1. Define the problem

Start by defining the problem in a short statement. Don't spend too much time worrying about getting it perfect - you can always revise it later if you need to. Just make sure that everybody involved in solving the problem understands it, and that you create a shared commitment to solving it.

The best problem statements start off with "How might we..."

2. Identify two extreme and opposing answers to the problem

You start with two models for a couple of reasons.

First, because two models are better than one and starts the process by admitting that there is more than one "right answer" to the problem. Two is also better than ten, because it is a manageable number of solutions to evaluate. Remember, you are unlikely to end up with either solution in the end.

Second, by creating opposing models, you create productive tension. There will be debate and dialogue because people will naturally gravitate towards one model or the other. This creates the environment for creativity you need in order to create a great choice.

Here are a few opposing models to get your creative juices flowing:

• Revenue growth vs. Profit growth
• Customization vs. Standarization
• Local vs. Global
• Broad vs. Deep
• Short term success vs. Long-term success

3. Sketch the two opposing ideas

The goal in this step is to make sure that everybody understands the core elements of each model. It doesn't have to be exhaustive, just provide enough knowledge for everybody to get on the same page.

4. Lay out the benefits of each model and the way it works

In the final step of the first stage, you lay out the benefits of each model. The important distinction here is that you focus only on the positives of each solution, and not the negatives.

This will ensure that each solution gets properly considered in the following stages, which will make sense when we get to Stage #3.

Stage 2: Examine The Models

Once the first stage is complete, we move on to a deeper consideration of each model.

Points of Tension

First, we look at the points of tension between the models.

Where are the points that make it difficult to just mash up the two solutions into one? For instance, if you were using the models of short-term profit and long-term profit, what elements of your solutions make it difficult to do both at the same time?

When holding the models in tension, consider the following:

• What do we notice is similar in the models?
• What do we notice is different between the models?
• What do we value most from the two models?
• What are the real points of tension?
• What assumptions might we be making?
• What important cause-and-effect forces are at play?
• What really is the problem we’re trying to solve?
  
  

Stage 3: Explore The Possibilities

In this stage we are looking to explore new possibilities to create that better, third choice.

The authors suggest that there are three pathways that they have seen leaders use successfully in their work. The goal is to create a number of possible solutions that you can prototype, test and improve as you move forward.

Pathway #1: The Hidden Gem

In this pathway you take one golden nugget (a deeply valued benefit) from each of the opposing models and then throw away the rest of the model. Then, using the golden nuggets as the core of the new approach, you come up with a brand new model.

The key to this pathway is to ensure that the two golden nuggets you choose are not in direct tension with one another. That means that you'll need to replace all of the elements you are throwing away with something else.

As an example, Tennis Canada reinvented their tennis program by looking at the models of two successful tennis nations - the United States and France.

The American system used a decentralized model, allowing young players to work their way up from various tennis academies around the nation, and then letting the cream rise to the top.

The French system used a centralized model, where rising stars were identified at a very young age, and put into a system that developed them in rigid structure.

Tennis Canada chose elements of both systems when they created a centralized structure for national training weekends that give them access to world-class competition and coaching, but left the development the rest of the time up to the players and their local coaches.

Pathway #2: The Double Down

In this pathway, you ask yourself the following question:

Under what conditions would a more intense version of one model actually generate one vital benefit of the other?

In this situation, you have one model that you prefer, but it's missing something vital that the other model provides. Then, you figure out how to get that vital benefit by "doubling down" on your preferred model.

As an example, Jack Bogle, the founder of The Vanguard Group, was the first to introduce index funds as an investment vehicle. He struggled with the tension between the financial industry's operating model of charging high fees regardless of the return (which benefited the shareholders), and operating on behalf of customers.

He solved that tension by changing the legal structure of his firm so that the customers owned the majority of the stock (think mutual company or cooperative). Then, doubling down on the customer focus, he created the index fund, which strips most of the fees out of the administration of the fund.

Today, 20 percent of all US investment dollars are in index funds of some form.

Pathway #3: Decomposition

In this pathway, you actually keep most or all of the existing models. However, the key is that you decompose the actual problem you are working on so that you apply each of the models in the right circumstances.

Rather than applying solution A or solution B all of the time, you figure out when/where to apply solution A and when/where to apply solution B.

Ground Rules

In this stage, as with any creative process, there needs to be a few ground rules to ensure it goes well:

• Use all three pathways as thought starters.
• Defer judgment. Don't dismiss ideas at this point.
• Build on the ideas of others. Use the "yes, and..." approach.
  
  

Stage 4: Assess The Prototypes

Finally, we find ourself at the stage where we need to assess the prototypes to determine which solution we'll ultimately roll with.

There are three main steps.

1. Concretely define each possibility, articulating how each of them might work in practice. Use storytelling, visualization and physical modelling here. The trick is to create a realistic picture of the solution without actually building it out completely.

2. Understanding the conditions under which each of your new possibilities would be a winning solution to the problem you want to solve. Make sure you've considered whether or not the assumptions you've built into the model are actually true.

Design and conduct tests of each possibility, collecting data you'll need to make the ultimate decision. The mindset you should use in this stage is that you are designing tests to try and prove your ideas wrong, not right. This has the benefit of exposing the solution to conditions where your solution won't work, so you get find your blind spots and improve it before you launch.

Conclusion

So there you have it - everything you need in order to create great choices instead of choosing between mediocre ones.