A632.3.4.RB - Reflections on Decision-making

Shoemaker and Russo discuss the hazards associated with "frame blindness" and how to guard against it. Discuss three ways you can avoid "framing traps" and provide a detailed example of each from your life experience. Could you have framed each situation differently? What did the exercise teach you about complex decision-making? What additional tools or "frames" would've helped you through the process? How much "risk" do you feel was in your recommendation? What did you learn about yourself through this exercise?

Framing theory suggests that how something is presented influences the choices people make. Frames are abstract notions that serve to organize or structure social meanings. This way of thinking is the reciprocal of rational choice theory, the process of determining what options are available and then choosing the most preferred one according to a consistent criteria,

There are three types of frames:

• problem frames generates solutions; 
• decision frames decided amongst clear alternatives; and,
• thinking frames utilize deeper mental structures by relying on years of experience. 

Frames sound convenient, but can also lead to making false assumptions. They can form mental "traps" that cause decision makers to make uninformed and/or ineffective decisions.” (Shoemaker & Russo, 2001) Frame blindness is when people set out to solve the wrong problem because they have created a mental framework for their decision with little thought. That causes them to overlook the options or lose sight of important objectives.

At work, it may be necessary for me to alert students who are under a certain amount of credit hours that they cannot stay in residential housing on campus. This is a policy which all students are aware of, but we do always have students who believe they will slip through the cracks. When there is a student who has struggled for a few semesters and is now either under credit hours or is taking none, I need to confirm this with them and give them the opportunity to prove their level of credit hours or they must find off-campus housing or return home. 

As a student affairs professional, it is my preference to see that all students are taking the necessary amount of courses to stay at the University. However,  none of the correspondence I must make is the first. Not only have these students been notified by their advisors and colleges that they were suffering academically and needed to seek resources, they have ignored emails stating they were expelled or suspended. 

As a college student, I had many classmates simply disappear after weeks of apathy and absence in courses. I always wondered what their plan was. Were they going to submit all of their homework by email? Make A+ grades on every test and final? Beg for mercy for a D+? Or did they know more than we all did? Did they realize that a lackadaisical attitude was the easiest way to "get out of the rat race" and pursue goals that had nothing to do with higher education? 

I can only imagine that many of these students have been on academic probation for a good deal of time and hid this information from their parents. How difficult it must be to confront the truth of their actions, when so much emotion and money has been invested. 

Though I am not a parent, I can only imagine the loss I would feel if my child called me after several moments of starting their higher educational pursuits, that they were dropping out of college. I realize many parents sacrifice a great deal to send their children to school, taking on extra hours at work or going without desires to guarantee that the tuition was paid in full. Many have even taken out second loans on their homes or made daring financial decisions that will affect them for years to come. 

However, as a professional, it is also my desire to make sure they are not acquiring debt when they are not dedicated to acquiring a degree in the process. It would be most unjust for us to charge them for a college education without them being able to benefit from one. In the long run I know it is better to have been the representative to say that the student cannot hide any longer behind hoping that no one will notice their failure, and allowing them to find a more definite route to success than to lay stagnant in place of educational development and progress.

We can avoid frames by: 

• Making sure we do not immediately accept the initial frame in our minds;
• Seeing problems in a neutral manner by replaying the possible decisions and balancing games and losses from different standpoints (Hoch & Kunreuther, 2005); and,
• Getting recommendations from others and examining the way they frame problems, and challenging them to see their possible decision from multiple standpoints

References

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

 

Russo, J. Edward, and Paul J. Schoemaker. Winning Decisions : Getting It Right the First Time. New York: Currency, 2001. Print.

A632.2.3.RB - Sheena Iyengar: How to Make Choosing Easier

We all want customized experiences and products -- but when faced with 700 options, consumers freeze up. With fascinating new research, Sheena Iyengar demonstrates how businesses (and others) can improve the experience of choosing. Identify four of the methodologies Sheena Iyengar suggests as methods of helping us improve our experience in choosing. Discuss the implications of two of these methods in terms of your own decision-making as an individual and a member of an organization. How else can you improve your ability to decide?


     In "Wharton on making decisions," Hoch and Kunreuther (2005) discuss how decision-making can be accompanied by systems which aid in choice. In review of the brick-and-mortar providers of choice, it is important to balance the joy of variety with the stress which develops from information overload.

Cut Out Options
     Less is more. By cutting out extra options, the choosing experience improves. Iyengar notes that while people may marvel over a plethora of choices, they are less likely to choose if there are too many to choose from. When people do choose from too many options, they choose in ways that simplify their option, which may disregard the benefit of diversification. As an individual, I am a big thinker, and I often find myself wanting to "do it all" instead of weighing options and cutting choices.      If I have the choice between making steak or salmon for dinner, and both are un-thawed, I plan to make surf-and-turf. My rationale is, "why wait?" At work, I am much the same way. I would rather try to make all event ideas happen instead of just one. I can admit that these kind of decisions often stretch me farther than I anticipate, particularly when I do not have the manpower. Learning to live by Matthew 6:27 is a goal: "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Realizing that there are still only 24 hours in a day is far more challenging than it should be. Noting pros and cons to each decision would help to make the road to choose easier.

Concretization, or Concrete Decision-Making
     Iyengar's third step discusses how people need to make options more concrete. This is done by seeing and feeling the effects of certain decisions, not just thinking about them abstractly. Abstract thoughts are open to generalizations, overestimating the profits of benefits or underestimating the risk, challenges and negative outcomes. As Iyengar discusses, "Why do people spend an average of 15 to 30 percent more when they use an ATM card or a credit card as opposed to cash? Because it doesn't feel like real money." 

     As an individual, I am much the same when it comes to money. In studying the financial wisdom of Dave Ramsey and Suzie Orman, I am learning to make my financial decisions more concrete. I collect and organize receipts from all of my expenditures so I can see how many transactions are made in a day and week. I have text messaging set so I can easily access the amount of money in my account. Though I am not to the point where I use envelopes to split my check into food money, insurance money, cell phone money, and otherwise (as Ramsey emphasizes), I have made it far more difficult to escape the ignorance of not knowing how much money I have or how much is spent (2009).

Utilize Categories
       Reflecting on Iyengar's example in cutting options in terms of financial decisions, "the more choices available, the more likely people were to completely avoid stocks or equity funds. The more choices available, the more likely they were to put all their money in pure money market accounts." Stocks is a category in which people generalize as risky; within this one choice, it is the goal of investors to find stocks which are profitable, as they have already resolved that anything deemed a stock is risky.

Condition for Complexity
       Conditioning for complexity involves making a decision from a grand list of choices - but doing so with pacing. Consumers want decisions, but are more likely to make them if the choices start small and increase over time, than starting large and minimizing options.


References

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ:      John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Ramsey, Dave. (2009). Dave Ramsey's Envelope System. daveramsey.com. Accessed at
   http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dave-ramseys-envelope-system/lifeandmoney_budgeting/

A632.1.4.RB - Multistage Decision-Making

In thinking about my decision making process and reflecting on the processes I use, I do believe I utilize similar practices in evaluating my own thinking. The questions managers ask themselves are:

• Am I being myopic?
• How appropriate is the starting analogy I'm using to solve a problem?
• What are the penalties for making an error?
• What am I learning from the feedback I am receiving?

As a supervisor for 27 direct and indirect supervisees, I recall asking myself the fourth question rather often. What am I learning from the feedback I'm receiving? First of all, I make sure then I asked for feedback often, but usually from my to direct supervise these. Is important that they see me as someone who is open minded and cognizant of my flaws. I keep an open door in eating them with their work and asking for input on my own work especially when it affects them directly. I realize that as a direct supervisor I have the most impact on  employees' experiences in my department and my organization. 

I take the responsibility making the office a peaceful place for them to work. I have to take initiative to make things better by avoiding an unfair and hostile work environment. I realize that spite is bound to ruin affected communication. I recognize their contributions and check on their progress in projects not by asking them where they are, but by asking what I can do to help them and congratulating them when they're on the right track to success. The decisions that one makes today can hope to make better decisions in the future (p. 60). 

I anticipate to learn from those I supervise. I am intrigued by multi-stage decision making because it respects the present and the future as equal. If today, and every day before today, I treated my supervisees as cherished portions of my professional and private life, it would hardly impact them if tomorrow I made a mistake that negatively affected them in only a slight way. It is because I have build up this credit of showing my desire to help them succeed that I can be forgiven for minor indiscretion in the future. However, if I treated them unfairly and disrespected them everyday up until now, one small then sit or gift would not change their opinion of me as a whole.

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.