Making Better Decision Makers

Decision analysis has been used to help solve numerous complex decisions over the last few decades. However, its power as a basis for structuring one's thinking to resolve decisions has barely been tapped. To realize this potential, we in the decision analysis community must train people to think about their decisions using the concepts and principles of decision analysis. In this process, more emphasis must be placed on structuring decisions worth thinking about, and less emphasis must be placed on analyzing structured decisions. This paper outlines what we should do to train people to be better decision makers and why this is important. It includes a description of what we must learn to do this effectively.