Decision Making
Is Problem Solving
The stages of decision making and problem solving are the same.
A decision is basically a problem, so, the stages of decision making are the same as those for problem solving.
In all stages of problem solving there are constant decisions to be made. Some are so important they become a sub-problem of the main problem.
Today, the trend in business and industry is to push decision making further down in the organizational chart.
A leaders job is not only making decisions and solving problems but also seeing that subordinates make correct decisions and solve problems.
Here is a rating scale for problem solvers, decision makers and others. You can make as many copies as you want. Larger size one is available from us.
The Edmund Reliability Scale
Our society is becoming increasingly more complex, team-oriented and adversarial each day. A rating scale such as the one shown below may be of some use.
Here is my version of a scale that can be used by a person evaluating his own opinion or conclusion. The scale could also be used by a team leader, scientist, businessman, attorney, judge, juror, etc. to evaluate someone’s opinion, testimony, or conclusion hopefully reached by following the stages of the scientific method.
By multiplying the raters’ own degree of experience in a given subject with the score he/she assesses to an individual’s opinion, testimony, conclusion, etc., we can arrive at a total score helpful in determining reliability.
You can develop variations of the suggested way to use this scale (shown in reduced size here) or a similar one. Example: The numerical units could be interpreted to represent money, time, sales, profit or plans and more.
The objective of the scale is to bring method and criteria, hence obtaining reliable ratings.
| RATING SCALE FOR: |
| Knowledge reliability |
Decisions |
Theories |
Plans |
| Problem solutions |
Testimonies |
Criteria |
Ideas, etc. |
| Rater’s name and title |
Rater’s level of experience (circle)
LOW 0 1 2 3 4 5 HIGH |
WORST For Rating Subject: BEST
Circle number you believe applicable:
-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10
If you rated a 0 please circle reason:
Not Sure Don’t Know Neutral No Effect |
| Subject |
Date |
Score
| __________ x |
________ |
= _________ |
|
Rater’s level x
of experience |
subject’s
rating |
= overall score |
|
Establish Your Own Criteria to Overall Score - for example:
Plus Scores: 1 to 16 = C (Average) 17 to 32 = B (Above Average) 33 to 50 = A (Excellent)
0 Scores: Not sure, Don't Know, Neutral, No Effect
Minus Scores: Indicate degree of failure, unreliability, inaccuracy, disaster, etc. |
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