Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Forrest Gump and the Analysis of Alternatives

Forrest Gump observed that "life is like a box of chocolates.  You just never know what you are going to get".

In most cases, assorted chocolate boxes come with a code to the different shapes that you will find in the box.  You may not know what combinations will be in the box, but once you're locked into that box, it may often be perfectly clear as to what your choices are and what each one brings.  Unless of course the seller has given oochy-kootchy names to the little delicacies so you have no idea what is really inside.  "Misty Mountain", for instance.

This situation has plenty of work relevance.  First of all, on the large scale, you never really know what the mix in the box is going to be.  If I ever write an autobiography I think I will call it "Things have changed" (hey, that's copyrighted now, you can't use it).  Whether forced by the external environment, or a lack of planning, or just the caprice of the organization or just one manager, it is not uncommon that organizations make radical changes of direction quite often, even when there is no real reason to do so.  And just as often, the organization somehow never seems to get with the program that its current executives have thought up. So if indeed you find that you are dealing with a box of chocolates, be happy; most people are trying to swallow something that has somehow turned to - well, evil-tasting, for sure.

So let's sneak a peek under the lid of the box.  It doesn't promise what you are going to get on the next bite, because that's pretty much up to you.  Hopefully, it lets you see what your choices are so that you can pick your favorite, or save your favorite for last, or maybe pawn off your least favorite on your sibling. This is pretty much what your governance board is hoping to be given to work with.  The overall situation that requires a decision (the box) is what it is, at least for the moment.  Now they'd like to understand what the options are - some less appealing than others, but all practical choices depending on their assessments of what would be best at this time.

How very different the material can be when it is brought forward for a decision:

  • There is only one candy in the box.  Take it or leave it.
  • There are only two candies in the box.  Hey, there's a choice!  Except that the other one is a horse apple.
  • There are no candies in the box, just a thick document full of generic phrases about how important it is to eat candy now and then.  And the invoice for the box.
  • There are no candies in the box.  There are a lot of fishing lures and other shiny objects that are appealing to someone for other purposes, but nothing in the box is really very relevant to the thing you are trying to get done now.
  • The box is completely empty, but the salesperson holds it tightly in their hands, keeping up a running patter all the way to the cash register and avoiding any effort to actually look inside it.  Well, you wouldn't really understand what these things are anyway, you just just give the man the money because ... well, that's what you're there for, isn't it? 

Anyone else have any other examples?

Next time you look at an alternatives analysis, no matter how slickly presented, ask yourself what's in the box.

As Forrest Gump would say, that's all I got to say about that.

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