The first step in decision-making is understanding the problem. There is no decision without a problem. The “problem” in this regard can be a challenge you aim to solve or an opportunity you want to leverage. As easy as this may sound, this is the most tricky part of it. Remember that if you frame your problem wrongly, your decision will also be wrong. Therefore, framing a problem is another hidden trap in decision-making.
A young boy told his mother, “Jason slapped me”. The mother was furious, waiting for the elder brother to arrive, wondering why he would slap his younger brother. Jason came with his head swollen, and his mother asked him, “Jason, what is wrong with you? Why is your head swollen?”. Jason responded that Mike (his younger brother) hit him with a stone when he refused to give him his ice cream. The mother sighed and asked Mike if Jason was speaking the truth; Jason couldn’t bear the shame, he ran inside. A similar example is the half-empty, half-full of water example. A cup is half full of water- a person sees it and says it is half empty, while another says it is half full.
To communicate a discount in marketing, you will instead say a 10% discount on a $10 item than a $1 discount. But if the value is high, like $1000, you would rather say a discount of $100 than a discount of 10%. A salesperson promoting a product will say 85% of farmers are satisfied with the product, rather than 15% are happy with the product. In reporting also, we report results against the target and trends. If, for instance, my performance this time last year was a sales of $ 25m, my actual total sales this year is $30m, but my target for the year is $50m. I will instead benchmark my result with last year’s performance rather than the target.
A few responses can be garnished by associations, fear or emotions rather than bare facts. Consider these investment scenarios expressed differently.
Option A: If you invest with us, you can make 40% ROI if everything goes according to plan.
Option B: If you invest in us, you could lose everything if anything goes wrong and miss the 40% ROI too.
Anyone will choose the first option because it downplays the risks and focuses on the benefits. You must be careful to avoid losing your money and may be unable to do anything.
When you find yourself in this situation, what do you do?
- Don’t automatically accept the initial framing from you or someone else. Always consider a different way of framing the question. Look for the distortions caused by the framing.
- Try posing a problem in a neutral way that considers the strengths and the weaknesses or looks at different reference points.
- Think hard about your options and the entire process. Ask yourself if your decisions will change if your framing of the question changes.
- When others make recommendations, examine the way they framed the problem. Challenge them with different frames.
