discussion post
After doing the activities below, please write at least one original post and two replies to other students in the discussion forum (for a total of 3 contributions, each worth up to 4 points).
It is up to you to which topic you cover in which posts, as long as it becomes clear from your overall contribution to the forum that you did all the exercises and tasks described below, and that you’re reading your classmate’s contributions.
1. Identifying Alternatives
Stimulus variation:
Employ different stimulus variation techniques as described in the book and in Keeney’s article that may help you identify new alternatives, beyond the ones you have already considered for your decision.
Please take your time to complete at least three different stimulus variation techniques before you engage in the discussion forum.
Force-fit:
Consider some of the craziest alternatives you identified. Try to force them to fit your values. See if this process leads you to identify an alternative that may not be so crazy after all.
I’m aware that for some of your decisions, trying to come up with additional alternatives may seem impossible or artificial. Just bear with us though and do it anyway. At the very least it will be a good creativity exercise, but I trust that for most of you it will be helpful, and for some it may lead to win-win alternatives and make a really big difference. And don’t be afraid to explore “crazy” alternatives! You may be surprised at what you come up with when you let yourself be creative. I have had students who actually ended up pursuing an alternative to their decision that at first seemed crazy, and as they explored it more, found out it was not so crazy after all. It’s really fun when that happens!
In the end, you want to have at least three different alternatives for your decision that you will keep working with.
Share and discuss this process with your classmates in the forum. You can also try to help other students in coming up with new alternatives for their decisions, especially if you can think of win-win alternatives. For that too, use the methods described in the book and Keeney’s article.
Whether you apply the technique to your own or another student’s decision, please make clear to us in your posts that you actually applied and understood the different techniques.
2. Determine your final sets of values and alternatives.
This is a preparation for the decision tables (worksheet next week) and your chance to get some feedback from your classmates about whether your final sets of alternatives and values are ready for that next step.
What are the alternatives you want to keep working with, and what are your values? Apart from the reading (revisit the values chapter!), here is an additional resource. These checklists will help you determine if you have well-structured sets of values and alternatives. Go through both checklists and revise your sets as needed.
In the discussion forum, share your final set of alternatives and values, or share parts of the process of revising, or ask questions, or give feedback to other students.
