Handbook of Decision Analysis, 2nd Edition

6Frame the Decision Opportunity

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

—Harry S. Truman

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

—Sun Tzu

CHAPTER MENU

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 Declaring a Decision
• 6.3 What Is a Good Decision Frame?
• 6.4 Achieving a Good Decision Frame
  • 6.4.1 Vision Statement
  • 6.4.2 Issue Raising
  • 6.4.3 Categorization of Issues
  • 6.4.4 Decision Hierarchy
  • 6.4.5 Values and Trade‐offs
  • 6.4.6 Initial Influence Diagram
  • 6.4.7 Decision Schedule and Logistics
• 6.5 Using an Influence Diagram for Decision Framing
  • 6.5.1 Introduction to Influence Diagrams
  • 6.5.2 Influence Diagram Elements
  • 6.5.3 Influence Diagram Rules
• 6.6 Framing the Decision Opportunities for the Illustrative Examples
  • 6.6.1 TechnoMagic New Product Launch
  • 6.6.2 Geneptin Personalized Medicine
  • 6.6.3 Data Center Decision
• 6.7 Using Decision‐Analysis Techniques to Frame Analytics Projects
• 6.8 Summary
• Key Terms
• References

6.1 Introduction

The decision frame is the lens that we use to view the decision problem or opportunity. We believe that a good decision frame is critical to decision quality (see Chapter 5). Creating a good frame is the first task that a decision practitioner should undertake when working on a decision. Almost every decision process begins with a step that focuses on describing the decision problem or the decision opportunity. As described in Chapter 5, the Dialog Decision Process begins with ...