Using Frameworks more effectively

The other day I was working on a strategy document for one of my consulting assignments. What was strange was that I had access to all information but I was not sure how to present it in a clear way that would mean action from the stake holders.

As consultants, the reason we present the strategy and tactical plans is because we hope the stake holders can gain value.

However, we always have impediments in terms of selecting the right information to present, providing the right context and suggesting the right set of next level activities.

Frameworks for Decision Making

Let me start with a simple decision framework that I used to get the strategy document presented.

You can clearly see that it has the following components:

• Purpose or Objective
• Perspective
• Context - or Areas concerned
• Basic criteria

You can find that this is true for all frameworks that you might have studied right from the BCG matrix , Porter’s five force model to the Black-scholes model. All frameworks or Models contain all these components irrespective of whether they are quantitative or qualitative models.

Choice of Frameworks

While there are several frameworks to choose from , we have to keep in mind several important criteria before choosing frameworks:

• Always analyze the frameworks - starting from the assumptions
• Always check out the context the framework was created and relate to it
• Sometimes referring to a single framework might not work. Refer to many frameworks and create a hybrid framework that helps in that specific context

There is a legend that Scholes (of  the Famous Black-scholes model) failed by running a business based on Black-scholes model. (The company is called LTCM. )

Is More merrier or messier

The more frameworks you refer to, the messier it becomes.

Hence, keep in mind ,that you should be every clear of the objective you want to achieve, the context you are in before referring to frameworks.

There is a threshold to how many frameworks you can refer to. You cannot amalgamate irrelevant frameworks and hope to get help from them.

Conclusion

While frameworks can be relatively easy to understand, applying them in real life situations can be especially hard. That is why consultants get paid the amount why get paid.

For more reading on how frameworks can be used more effectively, please refer to this course from University of Michigan. (http://open.umich.edu/education/lsa/cmplxsys200/winter2012)