Decision By Arithmetic

Type: Organizational

Problem: Need to make a decision

Context:

The situation is complex
The factors affecting the decision are difficult to understand and not easy to quantify meaningfully

Forces:

You need to be seen to be rational
You need to be seen to be focussed on the BottomLine?
You need to be able to defend your decision

Supposed Solution:

get all the factors quantified (e.g. as monetary cost and monetary benefit), usually by your subordinates
then just do the arithmetic (is benefit > cost?)

Resulting Context:

experts are annoyed at having to produce meaningless figures (rather than people seeking their advice)
decisions are made based on figures which are not very meaningful
people are held to deliver according to what were only FingerInTheAirEstimates

Design Rationale: 'Let's be scientific about this'

Related AntiPatterns:

Applicable Positive Patterns:

Trusting people's judgment (both your own, and others')

Also Known As: ManagementByNumbers? (I prefer this one), any suggestions for a better name?

-- StephenHutchinson

Although the technique is imperfect, what is the alternative? "My nebulous undocumented guesses can beat up your nebulous undocumented guesses"? At least numbers allow one to see the mental proportions others are putting on various factors. One can look at the numbers and say, "Why is server box cost being given such a high weight compared to software maintenance cost?" If somebody thinks so but doesn't tell anybody and says "just trust my judgement", then poor decisions are made without scrutiny.

This is delightful! -- Skip