The Common Structure of All Decisions
All decisions are fundamentally alike. Of course we don't mean that their content or specific details are alike but rather that they all have a common underlying structure. For a decision is nothing more than the problem of selecting one of multiple alternative actions in order to advance one or more objectives. And this all takes place within a context characterised by a variety of constraints, conditions, policies and values. A proper decision making process should therefore explicitly account for each of these components. This clarifies and amplifies our thinking, reveals our values and constraints, forces us to evaluate criteria and objectives. Most importantly, it allows us to satisfy ourselves that we have analysed the problem carefully. And of course, it means that we can justify our approach later.

Decision Objectives and Alternatives
We might begin with the objective. What do we want? What would constitute a successful outcome? What would this look like?

We would then move on to identify a series of possible actions that could produce such an outcome. How are we to choose the best? What does 'best' mean? In complex decisions, it often is the case that although we may begin with a single objective (for example, to maximise profit or serve the greatest number of people), we often find that other sub-objectives or criteria emerge. Our options appear to have implications in areas other than the objective with varying degrees of attractiveness. These crystallise into a series of criteria which now join the objective as a guide to our choice. But how shall we value these criteria?

Decision Criteria and sub-criteria
For example, suppose we wish to maximise our wealth. In order to do so, we might identify the stock market or a saving account as possible alternative actions. However, as soon as we do so, the additional criteria of security and risk comes into play. Or we might decide that a stock investment would be more attractive if it could also help or at least not damage the environment. Here the dimension of social responsibility is suddenly present.

Valuing Criteria
We now have an additional decision. How important are these two new criteria relative to our initial driving objective? This is where our values come into play. We need to rate these criteria and allow this to guide our decision.

Decision Contexts
Our values are in turn influenced by the context of the decision, the forces, conditions and assumptions that might prevail both now and at the time of the decision’s outcome. These need to be identified, acknowledged, discussed and analysed.

A Decision Process
A good decision making process forces us to acknowledge these sub-decisions and - importantly - to document them. This reveals our thinking to ourselves and others, forces us to slow our thinking and consider aspects of the decision explicitly and deliberately. Only then can we feel assured that we have done the decision justice.

Documentation and Justification
In order to educate ourselves about our decision and also to justify its validity, the entire process should be documented so that we can return to it and understand precisely how we arrived at it. Given the uniformity of a decision structure, this is a rather simple but clearly vital part of the process.