Page 157 - SKU-000506274_TEXT.indd

Ancient history

Ever since the dark and distant days when I was an executive with GM I
have been a fan of Chuck Kepner and Ben Tregoe. Not only is their
approach to rational problem solving second to none, their decision-
making matrix can save hours of work and potentially millions of dollars
for companies that choose to use it. Yet the approach is simplicity itself. It
is common sense written down and used, and used successfully by top deci-
sion-makers for more than thirty years.

In General Motors we were careful to record all the savings that we
made through effective problem solving and decision-making. Those sav-
ings, which were publicized through a regular newsletter that was sent to
all managers and executives swelled the numbers of those who were sent
for training in problem-solving and decision-making techniques leading to
further multi-million dollar savings for the corporation.

If you have a major decision to make, before you consider the alterna-
tives, try asking and answering the following questions.

What are the “musts” that a decision has to
deliver?

n What are the essentials that I am not prepared to do without?

n What is the absolute maximum amount that I am prepared to
spend?

n What is the maximum time frame in which I must start to receive
the benefits?

n What are the essential benefits that I must enjoy?

n What are the key features that my choice must have?

Make sure that whatever you list as a “must” really is an essential and
not merely desirable (we come to them later), because any alternative that
fails to satisfy any must is automatically rejected. That is the first big time
saver. You do not waste time poring over the merits of any alternative that
fails to deliver all the essentials that you are looking for. If you are buying
a car and the maximum that you are prepared to spend is £15,000 you
don’t waste time looking at the latest BMW 700 series. If you must have
new equipment up and running in three months you do not bother with
the potential virtues of a machine that is still in the development stage.

If you choose to ignore your own musts, why did you list them as essen-
tial in the first place? Musts are musts, not maybes. Deciding that some-
thing is essential then ignoring it is analogous to using a well-constructed
psychometric test and then rejecting the results. If you do not like the
results you can only question why you gave the answers on which those

126 Key management questions