September 2012

Business Intelligence Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3 (2012)

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Important and innovative decisions in almost all organizations are mostly made by teams, permanent or transitory, of people, rather than individuals. A new iSight model maps the path from the information cues that signal change is required, through the team interactions and implementation to measurable and repeatable innovation. The key to this progression lies in informal information–the conversations and meetings, messages and e-mails that record the actual path of decision making, that are largely lost today.

Abstract

For many of us, making decisions is a challenge. For businesses beyond the excitement of first growth, decision making can be torture. Despite nearly half a century of decision support and business intelligence, many businesses’ decisions look vaguely dysfunctional.

If we examine how important and innovative decisions in almost all organizations are really made, we see that most are made by teams, permanent or transitory, of people. Rather than individuals. It’s high time we came up with an effective approach to true decision-making support—what we might call innovative team-based decision making.

This paper presents a new iSight model that maps the path from the information cues that signal change is required, through the team interactions and implementation to measurable and repeatable innovation. The key to this progression lies in informal information—the conversations and meetings, messages and e-mails that record the actual path of decision making, but are largely lost today. Capturing and using this informal information is increasingly possible as we move to a world where all information is digital.

The iSight model described here provides the first comprehensive framework in which team-based decision making can be understood, designed into software solutions and implemented in highly innovative and forward-looking organizations.