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Overcoming inertia? 369
it is difficult to switch. Even physicians – who might be expected to
know how to think dispassionately about life and death – are influenced
inappropriately by the reference point in problems similar to the one
above. 28 Ideally, Russo and Schoemaker argue, problems should be
examined through more than one frame of reference. As we have argued
above, organizational interventions that enable the manager to view the
external world through multiple frames will facilitate strategic thinking.
Overcoming inertia?
How can the biasing elements of the results from the psychological
laboratory be reduced? How can multiple perspectives on a decision
problem be facilitated such that new, creative decision options are
recognized? Several of the decision researchers have spoken to these
issues but the prescriptions have often been general calls to ‘be alert’
rather than clear-cut guidance for overcoming bias or generating new
decision options. For example, Rubin 29 recommends that in situations
that could lead to escalation, the decision maker should ‘set limits on
your involvement and commitment in advance’ and ‘remind yourself
of the costs involved’. Russo and Schoemaker argue that managers
should take an ‘experimenting’ approach to decisions and be willing to
change decisions if they do not produce results. Further, they advocate
that organizations should evaluate their managers on the basis of good
decision processes rather than good outcomes – since many decisions
are risky and learning from failures is useful! Irving Janis, 26 in discussing
ways of overcoming groupthink, recommends that the leader should:
withhold his or her ideas at first; encourage new ideas and criticisms;
make sure that the group listens to minority views; and use processes
designed to delay consensus.
Russo and Schoemaker, 30 in discussing framing, argue that you should
‘challenge the actions that you normally take on an issue’, ‘seek a devil’s
advocate viewpoint – welcome diverse opinions’, and ‘be creative’. One
tool that they advocate to achieve ‘frame awareness’ is their ‘frame
analysis worksheet’ which, essentially, asks decision makers to state
‘what aspects of the situation are left out of consideration?’, ‘what
does the frame emphasize?’ and ‘how do other people think about this
question differently from the way you do?’. For example, in considering
a car purchase decision, questions in the worksheet might elicit the
response that used or foreign cars are not considered and neither is