In four previous articles we explored the decision with regards to approaches to get your own website up-and-running. The articles were not written to suggest an approach, but rather to indicate a process that can be followed for any decision.

A philosophy towards decision making is probably the most valuable skill any person should develop. We make literally hundreds of decisions every day. The recent disastrous decision by Toyota could have been averted if they had followed the principles underlying decision making.

It will be worth your while to make your own little study on the subject. In principle the following framework is a good one to follow:

Step 1: Decision Purpose - Clearly define what decision you have to make and why

Step 2: Decision Criteria - Establish decision criteria (the result your decision must perform) with the following guidelines:

(a) Ask, "What factors should be taken into consideration in making this decision?"
(b) Convert all the factors into a statement starting with, "Whichever option I choose must..."

Step 3: Separate the Criteria - Separate the decision criteria into "GO / NO GO" and "Desirable" criteria.

Step 4: Establish Values - On a scale of 1 - 10 establish values for the "Desirable" criteria, with 10 being the most desirable and 1 being the least desirable.

Step 5: Generate Alternatives - Make sure that you do not exclude an alternative that might have resulted in the best option.

Step 6: Compare Alternatives Against "GO / NO GO" Criteria - In this step you may eliminate some of your options because they turn out to be "NO GO" options.

Step 7: Compare Alternatives Against The Desirable Criteria - This is done by asking, "Which option performs best against the criteria?" That alternative must be assigned a score of 10, and the other options must be given a score relative to 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Step 8: Weigh and Compare Alternatives - This is simply done by multiplying the value of the criteria with the score assigned to that criteria. Once done the weighted scores are summarised for each alternative. The totals of the alternatives can now be compared. The alternative with the highest score indicates the best performing alternative as compared to the criteria.

Step 9: Identify and Assess Risk - For each alternative ask what may go wrong if you choose that alternative (and how probable it is on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being highly probable), and how serious it will be if that happens (on a scale of 1 - 10 with 10 being very serious). Eliminate alternatives with unacceptable risks.

Step 10: Make Your Decision - This will be a final value judgment in a series of value judgments. Once you have made it, do not look back and make it happen.

Your next challenge will be: "How do I make it work?" In the next article we will look at key issues related to making things work.