What does a cyclical process in decision making mean?

Answer 1

Let's use a very basic example. Let's say you are a high school student who just woke up and must choose your clothing to wear for the day. You want to wear black because that's the mood (1) you are in. But you know mom will complain (2) and then you remember that your best friend plans to meet you after 3rd period to go over party plans (3) and you are meeting at Jake's house a guy you really like (4). Suddenly your mood has changed and you pick that cute outfit you bought last month but haven't worn yet (5).

All the items numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 represent steps within your decision making about what to wear today. You only thought about it for 15 minutes, but at each stage, something else affected your decision.

If your mom had come into the room and you discussed your choices with her, you might have another 3 or 4 other steps in the decision. If you called your friend Amy, you could add another few steps.

While that example is basic, imagine decisions made by institutions, companies, committees, etc. Their decisions may start out as seemingly simple, as simple as what outfit you had to choose. But in every decision there is a "cyclical" process where "the decision" is altered, influenced, or amended based on new or different information (like the 5 steps outlined in my example). For a company, there may be thousands of cyclical steps before people agree on what problem they want to solve, through to a decision about that problem.

Cyclical decision-making also refers to the "cycles" of thought-process, during which ideas are brought up, discussed, kept or discarded. Organizations often enpanel committees, then, to wade through the ideas-stage and bring meaning to "the problem" as well as the possible "solutions". In committees, another cycle ensues (many mini- cycles) where the members finally come to a consensus.

When committees take their work back to the bigger organizational level, again more cycles of discussion and decision play out. In large and ineffective groups, people can get so bogged down in the "cyclical" part that the problem never gets solved! But in healthy organizations, the process helps develop policies, practices, trends, etc.

If you Google cyclical decision-making, you'll find many detailed articles.