Developed by Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe (The Rational Manager, 1965; The New Rational Manager, 1981).
Splits a tangled management situation into four separate processes, situation appraisal, problem analysis, decision analysis, and potential problem analysis, each with its own steps.
When to reach for it
When something is going wrong, a decision is due, and the risks are unclear all at once, and the team keeps switching between them.
How it runs
- List every concern, separate them, and set priorities.
- For a deviation, compare where it is and is not.
- For a choice, separate the musts from the weighted wants.
- Screen options on the musts, then score them on the wants.
- For the chosen plan, list what could go wrong.
- Add preventive and contingent actions for each risk.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
- 5.2 Selecting the Right Decision Tools
- 4.1 Root Causes and the Case for Going Back
- 1.1 Describing the Situation
Go to the source
- The Rational Manager, 1965
- The New Rational Manager, 1981