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Options or Hidden Agendas

The team leader must manage the team dynamics to encourage learning, challenge, foster communications and result in innovations.

Strategic planners identify options and make decisions. But since the future is not predictable, these decisions will be modified as the script plays out. It is very hard to optimize the process into a few simple steps.

A winner takes all attitude, a hidden agenda, or aggressive advocacy for a position is less effective than considering a variety of options and working together to discover the best solution. The advocate withholds data and tries to overwhelm an opponent.

A good planner shares data, knowing that no one has perfect insight about the future. They want to increase the information available.

The team must consider options. My experience is four is best. Just a few and you are not thinking critically, and more than four gets too complicated. So be willing to throw out losers early.