We all make decisions every day and some are more important than others. When important decisions need to be made, it helps to have a system. This can increase the chance of making the right decision and avoid costly mistakes.
Consider the case when the British government was concerned about the large number of venomous cobras in Delhi, India. They offered a cash reward for each dead cobra. Initially this solution worked well. Soon, enterprising people began to breed large numbers of snakes for the income. Once the government learned of this practice, the reward program was scrapped. The cobra breeders released their now-worthless snakes back into the wild and the snake population increased beyond the original numbers. The term βcobra effectβ is now used to describe situations when a solution makes the problem worse.
Now consider an assignment given to students at Stanford Universityβs Business College. The students were broken into several teams. Each team was given $5 as seed money and challenged to make it grow as much as possible during the next week. The winning team would present their solution to the entire business college a few weeks later. One creative team realized the real value was in the presentation itself. They marketed the opportunity to deliver a presentation to the Stanford Business College to the highest bidder. They never invested the five dollars, but they generated much more income than any other team. They did so by challenging the constraints of the problem, which illustrated the best solution.
These two cases give us a clue to an effective decision-making system. First, avoid the temptation to solve the problem right away. Instead, consider the cobra effect and imagine how potential solutions could backfire and fail miserably. Then, challenge the implied constraints and think outside the box and develop solutions that others might miss.
