Decision Coaching ResourceAs a decision coach you assist a decision maker in exploring their decision situation. You help them move through a decision process in an effective manner, and avoid pitfalls caused by neglecting important steps or falling into decision traps. These breakdowns can be organized around key elements of the Decision Chain: an inappropriate frame, unclear values, lack of compelling alternatives, irrelevant or unreliable information, incorrect reasoning, or lack of commitment to follow through. You will participate in and lead a series of conversations 1) Frame the decision, 2) Explore the alternatives and identify needed information, 3) Evaluate the decision and assess the information 4) Rate the decision and commitment to follow through. In completing the project you will either decide and be ready to act, or you will identify ways to improve the decision that will lead to a decision and action.Assuming each conversation is 30 minutes long, you would expect to spend 2 hours in direct conversation on a specific decision, as a coach, and as an observer. An individual will likely spend additional time in preparation for the meeting and following up on the results of a session. Their efforts will depend directly on how important a decision they have taken on, their level of motivation and the time available. The coach and observer should work together efficiently to capture notes and feedback in a way that will move the decision maker forward in their efforts. A Decision Coaching Journal is available as an additional resource on the Decision Skills Course Site. This is set of exercises that can be used by an individual to work and think through their decision. As a document to capture the work put into a decision, it is an effective course deliverable. However, an individual is not required to use the Coaching Journal document to complete the project they need to provide a thorough analysis of the decision, applying the decision framework and process. This could be done with text or images in a variety of formats. The NovoEd submission template with allow this diversity of submissions. Parts of the journal may be more relevant and consistent with the type of decision it shouldnt be filled out for its own sake.There is more to a decision coaching session than reading through the questions and the interactions should be more conversations for discovery than filling out forms and checking check boxes. You will want to listen closely to what the decision maker is saying, and also what they might be leaving out. If this is something the decision maker is open to, you might challenge their thinking and stretch their assumptions.The following pages organize the four decision coaching conversations in a way that you will have a reliable set of questions to depend on and a clear sense of what you are trying to achieve in this conversation. Adapt this template to help the decision maker achieve their goal of making a quality decision in an area of interest to them. In the process you will all have a better sense of the value and application of Decision Quality principles.

Session #1 Frame the DecisionIn helping someone to frame their decision, you want to help them clarify the elements of the frame: the purpose, perspective and scope that is most helpful to identify the best alternative, given what you want (values) and what you can know (information) at the time of the decision. The scope will be especially central in this conversation. As a team partnership, you are searching for the appropriately sized decisions to take on - Something that is important and complex enough to be worth the time and also not too big, so that meaningful progress can be made in the time available.Decision makers prepare for this conversation by completing the Five Things activity, in which they identify five things they are excited about, five things they are concerned about, five things they are hopeful about, and five decisions they see. This provides initial material from which to explore an appropriate frame for the Personal Decision/Coaching Project.The questions arranged below are not a script, but a guide. As a coach, you will be most helpful if you follow where the decision maker is currently in their thinking and ask questions that help them to explore the decision topic and begin to zero in on a helpful frame to begin the analysis. You will also be gathering the information you need to be able to test their thinking.As a coach, your purpose is to assist your decision maker in identifying and making progress on a decision they are comfortable with analyzing. Appropriate boundaries that take into consideration the comfort zone of all parties engaging in this common project should be respected. If there is a question with regard to this, raising the question early and creating a shared understanding of any specific limits will improve the conversation and clarify what is and is not helpful. There is no penalty for withdrawing from the conversation and working the project in a different manner indeed, this is an opportunity for learning, if it can be seen in this way.

General Questions to get started:How would you most like to work together on this project? Are there any specific requests that you would like to make before we get started?Where there any themes that came up in working on the Five Things activity that point to a specific decision?Describe the decision, or decisions, you are considering analyzing. How do you see it/them now. What is it? What it is not? What are the key issues?Where do you have significant choices? What decision are you facing that are worthy of reflection? Why is this problem worth addressing consciously?

Specific Frame Questions: (Purpose, Perspective and Scope)What are you trying to accomplish? Why?Are there other ways to look at this problem?How big is the real commitment? What is at stake?Will you be locked in or can it be easily reversed?How much time do you have to make the decision? How soon do you need to reach a decision?Does delay have serious consequences? What happens if you dont decide by then? Would it be helpful to escalate the decision to a higher level, to consider a wider frame?Is this part of a bigger decision that you could address now?Would narrowing the frame help you consider something specific you can take action on now?How much progress do you think you can make? Are you trying to cover too much ground?

Head Questions:Is this the right time and place to make this decision? Is time a factor? Is there a deadline?How different will your decision likely be from just making the decision now?Why is the problem difficult to solve? What factors are involved?What assumptions are you making? What are you taking as given?

Heart Questions:What am I worried about? What am I afraid of? Do I need to consider what others will think of this decision?Will others be impacted in a way that I need to take their perspective into account?Whose choice is it? Is the decision yours alone or are there other stakeholders?Who needs to be involved to get to a decision that makes sense and feels right?What would keep you from acting, if you saw the course of action clearly?How would someone you trust and admire frame this situation?

Tools to use to actively refine your decision frame:Expanding and contracting the frame, Decision hierarchy, List of things taken as given, List of head and heart issues, Alternative Perspective Taking, Consciously identifying and questioning your purpose, Conversations with others, Brainstorming

Traps we are actively seeking to avoid:Plunging into deciding without consciously thinking about the frameFraming the problem too narrowly to remain inside your comfort zone; or, framing it so broadly that you cant get your arms around itNot involving the right peopleMaking wrong assumptionstaking things as given that arent soBeing artificially limited by fears, peer pressure, or driven by impulse.

Framing and Issue-Raising Provide Substance for the Remaining Links and ConversationsIn the context of the framing discussion, there are likely to be many issues that are raised that are valuable to capture and that can be categorized as initial alternatives, values and information. Coming out of the framing discussion, an initial scope of the decision should be clarified - the decision hierarchy is the tool that captures what is taken as given (an assumption or prior decision/policy), what is under consideration, and what can be decided later. Based on this initial frame, which may be further refined, the individual will create a list of values in advance of the next conversation around alternatives. If the frame of the decision maker is clearly defined early in the discussion, it may be appropriate to begin to discuss values.

ValuesBased on the draft frame that the decision maker identifies in discussion with the coach, the decision maker will create a prioritized list of the values that are most important in the decision. This list will be useful in generating a creative list of compelling alternatives. The assumption for the coaching process is that the individual will develop this list and share it with their coach/team in advance of the second conversation around alternatives.Values General Questions:Whats the best thing that could happen? What would you like about that?Whats the worst thing that could happen? What would you not like about that?What is it that you really care about? Are some things more important than others? Can you prioritize the values?What are the key trade-offs. How much of one thing would you be willing to give up to get more of another?How do my overall goals apply in this situation? Head Questions:Can you explain why the potential futures associated with each alternative are attractive or not?Can you explain how much of something I would give up in order to get more of something else? Heart Questions:Have you considered the potential impacts of this decisions on those you care about?Are the values you are expressing consistent with your conscience?Tools to UseList of what I care about, what you want more of or less of in any outcome.Thinking of possible outcomes what you like and dislike about different outcomes.Prioritizing values by eliminating half the list in stages until just a few remain.Explanation of how much of the likes you would be willing to give up in order to reduce the dislikesTraps to Avoid:Thinking only of the short-term, Thinking only of yourself or leaving out values of key stakeholdersBeing attached to sunk costs (previous investments that cannot be recovered)Overreacting to risks or ignoring risksAlternatives Decision Coaching Session #2In this session, the Decision Coach and observer will with work with the decision maker to generate a creative list of alternative courses of action. They will then begin to refine the list based on what is doable and of greatest promise. Base on the narrowed list of alternatives, further information will be gathered.The key to brainstorming an expansive list is to generate without evaluating. A crazy idea should be built upon in a way that captures why you would want it and how you could overcome obstacles. Have fun. Get into a fun frame of mind. Tell a joke or think of a funning story, something that makes you feel happy or hopeful in order to get going.Alternatives - General Questions:What would you do now if you had to decide immediately?What else are your considering doing?List alternative courses of action.Are there any potentially good alternatives not on my list?What alternatives might others consider that I might miss?Who else could I talk to to help me create better alternatives?Head Questions:Are your alternatives logically complete (e.g., including doing nothing for now and revisiting the decision at a later time)? If you could eliminate the biggest constraint, what would you do?If you just tried to get the most of one value, what would you do?Heart Questions:Do you alternatives consider others you care about?Do you alternatives feel like a complete set? Am you leaving something out that you dont feel right about?What other alternatives might you consider, if you were not afraid? What might someone you trust and admire do?

Tools to Use:Brainstorming, Conversations with others, Wish lists,Creativity methods (like maximizing, minimizing, suspending constraints)Traps to Avoid:Assuming you have no alternatives, accepting unnecessary limits to alternativesGetting bogged down: Too many alternatives or only minor variations of the same thingSpending time on alternatives that are not doable,Forgetting the Do Nothing alternativeConfusing alternatives with goals or outcomes

InformationThe information that you generate should be aligned with the alternatives that you are attempting to evaluate. This information may or may not be easily accessible. It is easy to get held up, wanting to have the next piece of information, but new information only really has value if it can change your preferred course of action. As a Decision Coach you can help the decision maker test the quality of the information they have gathered, suggest or brainstorm ways of developing the information, or help the decision maker think through and analyze the gaps and uncertainties in their information. Since there is limited time to work together, the primary emphasis should be in helping the decision maker identify what information they will need in order to make a first pass analysis for the project. The decision maker has the task of developing this information for their own use.Information - General QuestionsWhat do you wish you knew to make a better decision?How might you get it? If you cant get it, can you make an estimate?Is there information you can adapt to make an estimate? Is there something to compare to?Do you believe the information? Is the source potentially biased in some way? Head Questions:What are the key risks or uncertainties?Can you assign a number/probability to the uncertainty?What are the potential outcomes of each course of action?How likely is each of the outcomes? Is it worth getting more information before deciding?Heart Questions:Who knows about this topic? Who could help me find out?What stops me from getting the information that I wish I had?Is there some information you are avoiding for some reason?What are the potential outcomes of each course of action?Tools to UseDigging for information from good sources: Libraries, newspapers, magazines, internetFinding out from people who knowNetworking to find good sourcesEncoding of judgment as probabilitiesSketching a possibility tree to understand uncertainties and identify outcomesBackcasting Imagine you are in the future and things went really well (badly) what happended? Challenging assumptions or information, what if these werent really true?Where might you be overconfident? Where might you be underconfident?

Traps to AvoidLaziness or reluctance to find outOverconfidence or a lack of confidenceSelective Attention based on interests or assumptionsThe things you know that aint so being blinded by assumptions Avoiding uncertaintyIgnoring things you dont understandGetting swamped with too much information

Evaluation Decision Coaching Session #3In analyzing the decision, you want to identify the alternative that has the best chance of giving you more of what you want, given what you can know. A Decision Coach is able to test the decision makers current thinking and provide feedback regarding any clear gaps in the current analysis. They may have some particular expertise and ability to help the decision maker complete the analysis. However, the decision coach is more likely to expect you to do a thinkful analysis and report back the results of your work. The analysis should fit the decision if its a pros and cons list, that may be enough, but you should be aware of where are these liable to go wrong (limited alternative set and poorly defined values). This is the same, whether its a rate and weight table (which does not explicitly consider uncertainty), a decision tree or some combination of the two.The analysis step should help the decision maker to balance head and heart. If the decision makes sense, but still doesnt feel right what is missing? What link in the chain is weakest? What actions can you take to resolve this? If it feels right but doesnt make sense, is there something missing in the way the situation has been framed and the alternatives, values and information that are the central inputs? What can you do to reconcile the two, or do you have your best route forward and just need to show courage and follow through in the face of uncertainty or difficult circumstances.Rating the elements of the decision provides insight into where you should focus your attention in an effort to strengthen the elements. You will have one week to cycle back and improve the decision before the final conversation. Where are you currently what is the weakest link, what additional work can you do in order to improve on what you have..Analysis General Questions:How did you analyze the decision? What more do you still feel needs to be done?What would be the best approach to comparing and selecting the best alternatives for this decision?Is the analysis and selection among the alternatives consistent with your information and values?Can you explain this choice to others?Are there any alternatives you are uncomfortable with for ethical reasons?

Head Questions:Do you have a solution to the decision situation that makes sense?Have you analyzed the decision in line with the importance and complexity and identified a best alternative? What factors make this the best alternative? What would it take to switch to another alternative?Have you used probabilities to think through the uncertainty? Could you make additional decisions to limit the uncertainty?

Heart Questions:Do people I trust, respect and/or care about understand and agree with my logic/rationale?Does the answer feel right? If not, why not?

Traps to Avoid:Ignoring possibilities: It wont happen to me.Assuming theres no uncertainty in potential outcomesMisinterpretation of factual informationIgnoring information, alternatives, or values Relying on irrelevant information (e.g., sunk cost, regrets)Wishful thinking: because I want it, it will happen.Doing what I know how to do and ignoring something difficult but important Making logical errorsParalysis by analysis

Commitment to Follow Trhough Decision Coaching Session #4If you have done the work and the direction is clear, you should be ready to move forward with confidence. You may also need to align the resources and make a series of steps. Whatever the status of your decision, you should be able to commit to something, if only to taking the next step in the analysis, or trying something out to gather information before making the higher level decision. As the Decision Coach, you have the opportunity to help the decision maker move forward into action and overcome any remaining obstacles. If they have come this far, what more do they need? Encourage them to take the next step, keep the commitment to themselves and move forward confiedent that they put in the effort to make a good decision, whatever the outcome.General Questions:Are you ready to act? What else do you need to do before you can act?Will you really do this? What would still be useful to do to ensure you follow though?Head Questions:What could stop you from following through?Are you prepared for the consequences and for doing what it takes to carry through the decision?Do you have the resources you to follow through?Heart Questions:What fears do you have that could prevent you from making my decision real?Have you accepted the potential consequences that go along with acting/choosing?Am you ready for the internal shift from considering the decision to the state of making it happen?Will others support or hinder you in executing the decision? Are you prepared to deal with this?Can you get others to help you? Have you told others about your decision?Tools you can useGoing through the process to make a quality decision creates the right conditions for follow throughAlignment with others whose help I need to achieve commitmentSpecific actions or an implementation plan Progress measurement (e.g., milestones)Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Reportable, and Timely (SMART) Goals.

Traps to avoidMaking a mental commitment, but separately deciding not to really put forth the necessary effort to follow through Not dealing with obstacles that get in the wayProcrastinationHalfhearted commitment