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"If you don't know where you're going, you just might end
up somewhere else" - Yogi Berra.
Most managers are familiar with the basic steps of setting
objectives. In this section we will review some structuring
tools that will help to do this efficiently and in ways that
will best support a sound evaluation of management
options. The use of 'objectives' here may be
different to its use in other management contexts; SDM
objectives are defined the way they are to support subsequent
analysis, so try to keep in mind the specific usage of the term
described below.
There are many considerations to keep in mind when defining
objectives and evaluation criteria. However, the bottom line is
that objectives and evaluation criteria form the framework for
evaluating alternatives. They should:
- Focus decision makers on what matters in the decision,
even when what matters is hard to quantify
- Generate creative ideas about alternatives, and be used
proactively to design good alternatives
- Provide a basis for consistently and transparently
comparing alternatives, with emphasis on exposing key
differences in performance (trade-offs) and critical
uncertainties
- Focus and streamline data collection and modeling to
ensure an efficient decision-relevant information base. From
this perspective, there are no right or wrong criteria, but
there are better and worse ones.
There are five basic steps in identifying
objectives:
- brainstorm the "things that matter";
- state the objectives;
- separate them into means and ends;
- create an objectives hierarchy;
- test your objectives to make sure they will be
useful.
These are discussed in the sections that follow.
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Seek out interest-based objectives