Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management, 3rd Edition

Chapter 4The Systems Decision Process

The decisions you make are a choice of values that reflect your life in every way.

—Alice Waters, Chef/Owner Chez Panisse Restaurant

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Systems engineering and systems decision support projects are complicated enough to require a repeatable process that can effectively guide one along the way. This is the purpose of the systems decision process (SDP) that we discuss in detail in this chapter. It is not a locked‐in recipe that must have every step executed to succeed. The SDP guides activity, planning, and thinking. When coupled with systems thinking, it is a powerful approach to a broad array of challenges from conceptual design to retiring systems.

4.2 VALUE VERSUS ALTERNATIVE FOCUSED THINKING

The lead systems engineer guides the team in how it engages with the SDP. Two major philosophies dominate the approach strategies: alternative‐focused thinking (AFT) and value‐focused thinking (VFT), although hybrid strategies have been proposed. The SDP represents a VFT approach.

“Values are what we care about,” Keeney notes in Value‐Focused Thinking [1]. “As such, values should be the driving force for our decision‐making.” Values, he notes, are principles used for the evaluation of actual or potential consequences of action and inaction, of proposed alternatives, and of decisions. The VFT process differs from traditional AFT in that a clear understanding of values drives the creation of alternatives, rather than the traditional ...