In his book, The Pursuit of WOW!, Tom Peters discusses principles of management. In Principle 49*, he notes how people respond to uncertainty.
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The Greeks knew little of the way their world worked by the standards of Copernicus or Newton, let alone Einstein. Yet they developed a system of meaning as finely articulated as any you’ll find in a modern quantum mechanics text.
The translation to everyday life is clear. When confronted with anything unusual, from a new ache or pain to a new boss, we try to build a theory of how things are going to work out. And, says experience and psychological research, the less we know for sure, the more complex the webs of meaning (mythology) we spin. |
While Peters goes on to explain the lesson of keeping customers informed, this Principle can have other lessons to DSS needs. That is, without current and appropriate information and decision aids, decision makers will still develop a model of the choice context, and make decisions based on that model. With reasonable support and information, decision makers are likely to develop a prudent model. Without reasonable support and information, decision makers are likely to develop defective views of reality which can lead to imprudent choices being made. Hence, decision support -- even fairly limited support -- can increase the likelihood of discerning choices being made.
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