{"id":1898,"date":"2010-04-02T05:55:55","date_gmt":"2010-04-02T12:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/?p=1898"},"modified":"2013-07-11T17:43:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T22:43:43","slug":"visualizing-decision-making-complexity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/visualizing-decision-making-complexity\/1898\/","title":{"rendered":"Visualizing Decision Making Complexity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a296a24fa2fc69ef5487857f02f111e8\" data-index=\"9\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Single Post readerboard -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8207522353004717\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1144967431\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve written before that there are, at times, <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen\/628\/\">too many cooks in the kitchen<\/a>. \u00a0In that article, I quantitatively show how the number of communication links grows exponentially as the number of team members grow. \u00a0This state of affairs adds tremendous burden to a system, as well as confusion, diffusion of responsibility and, most troubling of all, a lack of accountability: when everyone is in charge, then nobody is in charge.<\/p>\n<p>Here is another representation of complexity in organizations. \u00a0This author <sup class='footnote'><a href='#fn-1898-1' id='fnref-1898-1' onclick='return fdfootnote_show(1898)'>1<\/a><\/sup> shows visually what decision making looks like:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1904\" title=\"visualizing-decision-making-complexity-shmula-abilla\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.opexlearning.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/visualizing-decision-making-complexity-shmula-abilla.jpg\" alt=\"visualizing-decision-making-complexity-shmula-abilla\" width=\"560\" height=\"490\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The arrows ( A =&gt; B) means that &#8220;A seeks B&#8221; and this visualization of decision making in organizations was obtained through user interviews and observation. \u00a0Other insights:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is strong triangle of input and feedback amongst Directors 2 and 3 and the General Manager. These strong, trusting ties have grown and solidified over many years of working together.<\/li>\n<li>Director 1 is new to the organization. Manager 12 was hoping to get this position, but Corporate strongly pushed for Director 1. Notice that Manager 12 is still locally influential in the decision-making network. Director 1 does not include input from direct reports in decision-making [ remember A &#8211;&gt; B means that A seeks out B ] !<\/li>\n<li>Director 4 is about to retire. He used to run this division when it was much smaller. Unlike Director 1, Director 4 does include inputs from his staff.<\/li>\n<li>The decision-making patterns in the departments of Directors 2 and 3 are quite different from the pattern of links in the departments of Directors 1 and 4. Directors 2 and 3 seek information from all levels of the organization &#8212; their departments show both vertical and horizontal flows. Several managers in these departments [23, 24, 34, and 35] are boundary spanners &#8212; connecting to others outside of their immediate group.<\/li>\n<li>Departments 2 and 3 are an example of participatory decision-making &#8212; including inputs from up and down the hierarchy, as well as inside and outside the department.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Who do you see as the most influential person[s] in shaping decisions in this organization?<\/p>\n<div class='footnotes' id='footnotes-1898'>\n<div class='footnotedivider'><\/div>\n<ol>\n<li id='fn-1898-1'> http:\/\/www.orgnet.com\/decisions.html <span class='footnotereverse'><a href='#fnref-1898-1'>&#8617;<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve written before that there are, at times, too many cooks in the kitchen. \u00a0In that article, I quantitatively show how the number of communication links grows exponentially as the number of team members grow. \u00a0This state of affairs adds tremendous burden to a system, as well as confusion, diffusion of responsibility and, most troubling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12327,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.0 - 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