Decisions, Decisions

Consulting and Seminars from

H.F. Lillywhite, Logical Learning and Consulting

503-649-7647 email: decisions@hfl-llc.com

The quality of our work and our lives depends, to a great extent, on the quality of the decisions we make.

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Decisions under time and resource constraints - two hours

Goal: When faced with a lack of time, information, or resources, participants will focus their efforts to make the best reasonable use of what they have and to deal with the most important aspects of the problem.

Not enough time? Not enough information? Not enough resources for what you need to do? Welcome to life. We all face this problem occasionally and some of us live with it. How do you make and implement a decision when you don't have the time, information, or resources you need? Based on a method used in search and rescue, this seminar provides a process for dealing with these shortages.

The steps of the process follow the acronym SCORPA(R):

S: Size up the situation.
C: Contingencies - determine what might happen, good or bad.
O: Objectives and Goals - what you want to accomplish.
R: Resources available.
P: Plan, should fit the objectives and resources.
A: Action, make it so.
(R): Repeat as necessary.

An important part of the seminar is a small group "table-top" simulation during which participants practice dealing with an actual problem under constraints of time, information, and resources. Every effort is made to make this simulation realistic, including the pressure decision-makers face in actual events. Participants or sponsoring organizations may provide their own example problems for this seminar or if they prefer the leader can provide such examples. The seminar will conclude with a review of this simulation.

Note that a special three-hour version of this seminar oriented toward emergency response personnel is available. This version looks particularly at disaster response as might be required in events such as earthquakes, major storms, civil disruptions etc. It is designed for those who have been hands-on responders and the goal is to help them prepare to take a leadership/management role. Such people have a drive to “get in there and fix the problem.” They are action oriented, hands-on personalities. That is great and needed, but to take the leadership role they must learn to step back, plan, delegate and keep looking at the big picture.

Because we strongly support emergency responders, this three-hour seminar is offered pro bono (except for travel expenses) to volunteer groups such as Community Emergency Response Teams. It is offered to paid responders at the same price as the regular two-hour seminar.