Applying value-focused thinking

Decisions are made with the purpose of achieving something, which is defined by the values for the given decision. Objectives specify those values in detail. Value-focused thinking is designed to keep your attention throughout the decision process on what you hope to achieve. Its purposes are to help define in a clear and explicit manner the decision problem that should be addressed and to stimulate creative thinking in modeling the decision and throughout the decision process. There are three primary ways that applying value-focused thinking can lead to better decisions. First, value-focused thinking often results in a better set of objectives for evaluating the alternatives, as generating objectives is an explicit focus of value-focused thinking. Second, value-focused thinking facilitates the creation of alternatives, some of which might be better than the readily apparent alternatives that have been previously recognized. Third, value-focused thinking proactively defines decision opportunities that are more attractive to face man the decision problems forced upon us. This paper describes the relevance and usefulness of the key concepts used in applying value-focused-thinking that are often missing in other approaches. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities in applying these concepts.

Duke Scholars

Author Ralph L. Keeney Fuqua School of Business