PMI

(Plus, Minus, Interesting) Decision Making

Purpose

Decision-making is often about weighing up the pros and cons of a situation. On the one hand are the benefits of a particular course of action. On the other are the disadvantages.

PMI Decision Making gives you an alternative. Instead of looking at a potential decision from a two-dimensional view of advantages and drawbacks, you add a third dimension – the potentially interesting aspects of the decision.

The purpose of this approach is to ensure the decision you make will improve a given situation. By introducing the “interesting” element, you pose questions that the pros and cons (the pluses and minuses) may ignore.

How To Use PMI

When you have a decision to make, it will appear as a question. For example: should I move my office?

To help you answer this question, draw three columns. The headings for the columns are: Plus, Minus and Interesting.

In the Plus column, note every positive result that will stem from your decision to move your office. In the Minus column, write down all the negative results. Finally, in the Interesting column, note the implications of the decision to move.

These implications may be positive or negative. You may also be uncertain about them. If so, write the implications as questions.

By the end of the process, you may be clear about the decision you must take. But you may have found some issues you had not previously considered. You may therefore be hesitant.

To help you further, give a score to each of the points you’ve written in the three columns. How you make these scores is up to you. Many people use a positive and negative system. For example, 5+ is the best possible positive score; 5- is the most negative.

Once you’ve awarded your scores, count them for each column and add them. If the positives outweigh the minuses, you should make a decision in favour of an office move. If there are more minuses than positives, you should keep your office where it is.

The PMI technique draws out the implications of a decision. You can also use it to check that a decision you’ve already arrived at is the right one.

Limitations

You need to approach PMI in a disciplined way. Many people automatically take a pros and cons approach to decision making. It’s fairly easy to slip back into this.

It’s also important to stick to one column at a time: Plus, then Minus, then Interesting. Don’t jump between them. And you may find it helpful if you time the process. You could, for example, spend a minute on each column. In this way, far from limiting you, PMI offers a fast and focused way of tackling the decision-making process.

Related Subjects

• Lateral thinking. Dr Edward de Bono promotes the use of the PMI Decision Making tool. Among his other related techniques is lateral thinking. This is a means of solving problems by taking a creative, indirect approach to them.