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Matrix Decision Making
I had the pleasure of working with the authors of this book for over a year as a research assistant. Over that time I came to deeply associate with the 2x2 Matrix approach to problem-solving, and believe it is one of the most novel, fun, and effective ways of understanding business and personal dilemmas.
The idea behind 2x2 Matrix problem solving is to simplify any dilemma you're experiencing to its two core, often competing, facets. For example, The Gartner Magic Quadrant evaluates a company's technology solution based on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. These two aspects are then placed on opposing axis of a grid and given hi/low extremes. This instantly generates four quadrants of distinctly different possible scenarios. In this case:
- Niche Players - Low completeness of vision, low ability to execute
- Visionaries - High completeness of vision, low ability to execute
- Challengers - Low completeness of vision, high ability to execute
- Leaders - High completeness of vision, high ability to execute
The authors, Alex Lowy and Phil Hood, have gone to great lengths to examine outstanding problem solving practices offering both an academic explanation of the theory behind 2x2 modeling, and a profile of 55 of the best decision models out there.
These 55 decision models, presented in short, clear summaries with illustrations and often technology-based case examples (drawn from IBM, Apple, HP, Borland, and the open source world) are the real gold in the book. The models range from highly business-oriented strategy, marketing, and employee-motivation frameworks, to personally oriented frameworks that help structure time, understand personality conflicts, improve leadership skills, and evaluate career transition opportunities.
Chapter 3 is devoted to what the authors call Archetypal Business Dilemmas. The dilemmas presented here speak vividly to the challenges being experienced right now by the open source community:
- Head vs. Heart The toughest choices are between doing what makes sense, and what feels right.
- Content vs. Process Content is the what, Process is the how. Success in most things requires mastery of both qualities.
Also, there are a host of technology gurus who have been interviewed and have matrices presented from their work: Charles Fine, author of Clockspeed; Watts Wacker, author of The Deviant's Advantage ; Hal Varian and Carl Shapiro, authors of Information Rules ; Paul Weifels and Geoffrey Moore, authors of Crossing the Chasm; and Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy.
It is almost impossible to read this book and not compulsively apply these exceptional models to personal life. At the moment I've been working with Stephen Covey's Urgency and Importance matrix.
For many of us, life is filled with tasks that are Urgent, leaving little time for more fundamental and long-term activities necessary for personal and professional development.The Time Management matrix explores two key dimensions, Importance and Urgency:
Importance. Things that are important are reflective of one's values and contribute to achieving higher-priority goals and personal mission. Importance is about results that matter.
Urgency. Urgent things require immediate attention. They tend to be visible, popular with others, and to act on us.
My cell-phone and inbox both feel highly Urgent, and I often answer my messages immediately, despite the fact that in most situations their Importance is questionable. I'm working at shifting away from a crisis-oriented instant response, which is in turn generating more free time to work on the things that are really important to me but don't necessarily jump in front of my face.
Without actually sitting down and plotting how I used my time during a week on the matrix, I would never have had to directly face the multitude of things I was sacrificing just to keep up with my trivial emails. It's the simplicity and clarity of 2x2 modeling that makes it a great tool for wrestling with dilemmas, and generating deep insights.
Most will find the book an easy and engaging read, especially the framework sections. The downside, if there is one, is the sheer volume of great frameworks. One can only absorb a few at a time and for this reason I'd recommend reading slowly, jumping from the table of contents right to parts that sound the most interesting.
You can purchase The Power of the 2x2 Matrix from bn.com; a sample chapter is available here. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews. To see your own review here, carefully read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Red pill or blue pill?
If I go to a company and I see "How to Win Friends and Influence People", "Who Moved My Cheese","The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" or "Managment for Dummies" on a desk I know that it is not a place I want to work. To me it is the same as seeing "SQL for Dummies" on a lead DBA's desk if you are that far along in your career you should be well beyond those books.
2x2 matrices are sometimes useful, but more often they just encourage us to limit the number of possibilities we consider. We're so prone to thinking in terms of binary choices anyway that what we need is something to help us see the multitude of possibilities rather than something that narrows the scope.
The goal of these decision matrices is not to actually make decisions, but to validate decisions - to get everyone to agree that the decision is the correct one, which is where most of the hard work lies in corporate decision-making. Generally there's plenty of people able to make the right decision, whether they be the local leader, an outside consultant, etc, without needing any gimmicks like "decision matrices". But getting everyone to agree on a decision and put their will behind it and implement it - boy, that takes all the shiny stuff you can muster.
Daniel
Carpe Diem
Fortunately, I have a highly complex mind that can reduce any machine to a simple yes or no answer.
No!
Hitchhiker: You heard of this thing, the 2x2 Matrix?
Ted Stroehmann: Yeah, sure, 2x2 Matrix. Yeah, the decision making strategy.
Hitchhiker: Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 1... by... 1... Matrix.
Ted Stroehmann: Right. Yes. OK, alright. I see where you're going.
Hitchhiker: Think about it. You walk into a book store, you see 2x2 Matrix sittin' there, there's 1x1 Matrix right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?
Ted Stroehmann: I would go for the 1x1.
Hitchhiker: Bingo, man, bingo. 1x1 Matrix. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 2x2 Matrix folk.
Ted Stroehmann: You guarantee it? That's -- how do you do that?
Hitchhiker: If you're not happy with the first 1x1 matrix, we're gonna send you an extra 1x1 matrix free. You see? That's it. That's our motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "B".
Ted Stroehmann: That's right. That's -- that's good. That's good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 0x0. Then you're in trouble, huh?
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
...in a management book I've read. Employees all have willingness and ableness.
Great employees are willing AND able
Employees that need training are willing and not able
Employees and need some attitude adjusting are not willing and able
Employees that are about to get their asses fired are not willing and not able
It is very interesting to see this type of matrixed used in other places.
Geez, you could make 2x2 matrixes of anything and make it sound like you're accomplishing something. How do you guard against backfitting a matrix to agree with a preferred solution? I didn't expect the review to give a complete understanding of this method, but I wish it were just a little more informative.
After reading the above blurb about putting it on a 2x2 grid, I had a strong image of Robin Williams at the board drawing graphs as the student read, then afterward saying 'excrement', or some such. I expect that in the case of this decision-making thing, it can actually make sense to use the method. For judging poetry, though, no.
Also, I agree with the posts elsewhere- my first thought on the topic WAS the movies.
The truth is though, that once a corporation gets to a certain size, the more stuff like this becomes vital. And the only way a hard working engineer is ever going to be able to get his voice heard (or interpret what he is told) is to understand the processes and procedures that upper management uses.
Books like this are invaluable if you want to be a succesful engineer in a corporate environment, because no matter how many times you yell at your boss "this just isn't logical!!!!" your message isn't going to get across unless you can speak their language. Being an engineer isn't about exclusively knowing the numbers and running the experiments (we generally call those people "scientists"), it's about organizing your resources and abilities in a way that the general public will believe and buy into.
My biggest role models haven't been the cynical yet super intelligent underdogs, they've been the cynical yet super intelligent Senior engineers who got there knowing how to play the corporate BS for what it is. I say books like this should be required reading for any engineer who wants to be taken seriously in a corporation, and subsequently getting your inovative ideas across.
simple but effective boss matrix:
Evil
Harmless
by
Competent
Incompetent
Thus, if
-Competent, Evil deal with by steering towards co workers,
-if Incompetent Harmless, hang out with, senl lots of 'feel good' memos and cutsie emails,
-if Incompetent Evil - HIDE
-if Competent Harmless then upwardly delegate as much work as possible.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
This admission does not allow you to review the book. This is kind of like letting a priest sell you a bible, or a politician tell you how great his party is doing. It's a little *too* close to conflict of interest.
sig not found
From the movie Donnie Darko:
Donnie: Life isn't that simple. I mean who cares if Ling Ling returns the wallet and keeps the money? It has nothing to do with either fear or love.
Kitty Farmer: Fear and love are the deepest of human emotions.
Donnie: Okay. But you're not listening to me. There are other things that need to be taken into account here. Like the whole spectrum of human emotion. You can't just lump everything into these two categories and then just deny everything else!
When all your problems in life and business can be neatly summed up into 4 absurdly simply outcomes, nothing beats the power of the 2x2 decision matrix. Examples:
........... Worship ... Don't Worship ......| Great ...... Hell .... Live it up!
........... Competent .... Not Competent ..| Yeh, right ....... Hell ..| Hell ...... Finally, someone honest!
Is there a God, and should I worship him?
God
No God | So-so
So what, if non-idiots wish to ruin the pea-brained genius of this matrix with questions like "What if there is more than one god, or that a single god might not care about Christian ideals?". This matrix can show you the only way to live your life correctly. And who can forget the sarcastic logic of Scott Adams, in this comic strip favorite:
Bosses:
Good
Evil
Finally, someone has discovered this breakthrough in philosophy that proves you are screwed no matter what you do. Before this, people actually had false hopes of something better, but they need not suffer under any such illusions today!
Pick up your copy at your local Barnes And Noble bookstore today, for these and many other incredible matrices!
N- "I asked you for your advice on which pill I should take, now instead of 2 choices I have 4. Are you messing with me? Or is this that 'new math' crap I heard about?"
M- "Okay, I'll skip the mystic mentor method and go straight to Telling You What to Do (tm). What you REALLY need is more choices..."
(an hour passes)
N- "Okay, so I can either fly to Bogota and look for a bearded man selling mule rides near a banana stand, or I can call my cousin Mikey and ask him to think of a prime number, or I can tap my heels together three times..."
M- "Damn, you're too stupid to get it aren't you. I guess you're not the One. Give me back my pills."
N- "ha ha ha ha ha, I'll just sell them both, and screw you and your philosophical dilemmas. I don't need Ultimate Awareness, I've got UltimatePasswords.com"
The problem with airport books is that they are exceedinly selective in the research that they draw upon, and it is never fairly evaluated. Also conclusions are jumped to with great alacrity.
If you really want a good decision making book, my first recommendation is Jonathan Baron's "Thinking and Deciding". It is an undergraduate textbook, which I think is very geek friendly. Indeed, it is a bit too geek friendly for my wife's students, so she uses more basic text books.
I don't know what the reviewed book contains. I do know how management people use what they call the "2 by 2 matrix". If that is the only tool discussed in the book, then one should probably give it a miss. Any decision making book that doesn't discuss Bayesian reasoning is not something I would recommend to any geek. Baron's book I would. (And I have no connection with Baron).
Prime numbers are exactly what Alan Greenspan says they are -S. Minsky
I could almost feel my hair getting pointy just reading the blurb. And for some reason, I'm craving synergy. I think I'll go write a mission statement.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.