Illustration courtesy of Alfredo Carlo, HOUSATONIC | We Make It Easy.
Some have asked me about the DEE-decisions framework that I used as part of the ‘Toward a New Normal?’ article where I explore ideas to radically redesign meetings to reduce the need to travel, in light of health and carbon and cost concerns. I am pleased to republish the original article where I introduced the DEE-cisons model in summer 2015. The focus on immigration was prescient given the centrality of that topic in the politics of Europe since that point in time.
Imagine the scene. A producer pitching the idea for a film: in Africa, people are living insecure and impoverished lives; thousands of people decide to start an exodus to Europe; they walk and walk and walk, and they talk to the media covering their movement – “we are poor because you are rich”; those in the North are fearful of the mass migration from the South.
The surprise about this film? Well, firstly it is has already been made. By the BBC. A long time ago. In the 1980s a pitch something like the one imagined above actually happened. ‘The March’ was made with leading figures in front and behind the lens. It was broadcast over 25 years ago.
Even so, the surprise is not that it was so prophetic – the story remains prescient.
Rather, it is striking that the film is almost totally forgotten. It has never been repeated. You can’t buy it online – even through the BBC bookshop. It has just about disappeared, other than a couple of YouTube clips, for example.
So...?
This film was an insight – into insecure lives and the challenge of economic development.
Today, in our work (and lives) we are offered insights all the time. Sometimes our colleagues or bosses or contacts expect us to act.
We have four options in any situation:
First, we can IGNORE the information and time to decide.
Or, we might DO something. Possibly instinctively.
These are the two main responses. Both can be due to cognitive biases. The complexity or anxiery might just be too much for our busy life – so we ignore it. Or we are a bit discombobulated and just want to do something – so we rush to action. Either way, we may (over) rely on our intuition.
Or possibly we want to take our time. Our third option is EXPERIMENTATION. We might want to give something a go. We might wish to try something out.
The fourth and final possible choice is EXPLORATION – wanting to find out more, or reflect.
When viewers saw ‘The March’, my hunch is most ignored the implications. Maybe it seemed too fanciful. Or worrying. Some probably signed up to the campaigns for third world debt relief that were popular at the time. Others maybe chose to give supporting a particular charity a go. Some others might have decided to read more about the issues and think about how best to respond.
In our organisations we can manage our DEE-cisions by:
So why not try triaging your next set of decisions in the group you work with. What can you ignore? But most importantly, what would DEE have you decide? What should you DO? What could you EXPERIMENT with? What might you EXPLORE a bit more?
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