Draws on the musts screen of Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe (The Rational Manager, 1965) and on Stuart Pugh's concept selection (Total Design, 1991).
Scores each option pass or fail against a few disqualifying criteria and keeps only the options that pass every one, with no weights and no totals.
When to reach for it
When narrowing a short list against hard requirements, such as legal, ethical, or deadline limits, where weighted scoring would blur the picture.
How it runs
- List the options, including doing nothing or waiting.
- List three or four criteria that disqualify when failed.
- Move any more-is-better criterion to a weighted method.
- Mark each cell pass or fail, nothing in between.
- Keep the options that pass every criterion.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The Rational Manager: A Systematic Approach to Problem Solving and Decision Making, 1965
- Total Design: Integrated Methods for Successful Product Engineering, 1991