On a more conventional level, consider the managing technology situation at the Person household. Trevor Person of Alexandria, VA, has what he calls a “squeaky clean” inbox: He keeps just 10 to 25 emails in it at a time. His wife has about 16,000 emails in her inbox. Many people consider crowded inboxes to be status symbols, says Mr. Person. But he suspects that his wife’s hoarding of emails actually exacerbates his compulsion to be an inbox neatnick. He has reached a realization: His wife feels “validated” by a jammed inbox. He feels validated by an empty one. (Zaslow, 2006, p. D1) How do you manage your inbox? Are you more like Mr. Person or Mrs. Person? Or, somewhere in between? Making decisions and solving problems are the subjects of this chapter. Mrs. Person does not see her 16,000 emails as a problem, but Mr. Person does. If hoarding is a problem, here are some tips for paring down inboxes: • Send less email (the theory is that less will be returned) • Have a system for deleting email, such as deleting all emails over a month old. Some companies and government agencies have this as a rule; emails more than a month old are automatically deleted. • Old emails may be kept for sentimental reasons (old lovers, former friends) or as a way to keep a track record of work correspondence. It is up to you to decide when is the time to let go. Managing inboxes is mostly an individual decision, but here is an example of family decision making: Imagine volunteering for a lifestyle that forces you to give up nearly half your household income, sell your toys, forgo vacations of the kind your friends enjoy, and work as if three or four lives depended on your next paycheck. That’s the world of many solobreadwinner dads. Bo Rogers, Mesa, Ariz., sold his motorcycle and gave up his gym membership, workouts and racquetball games after he and his wife Melanie had the first of their two children, so she could quit her job. Now, Bo, who is paid solely on commission as a heating and airconditioning salesman, feels pressured and stressed. (Shellenbarger, 2003, p. D1) Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 130). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. These are the kinds of decisions that young families make. Reversing a trend of nearly a quarter of a century, more families are opting to have a stay-at-home mother. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of such families is increasing from a low of 35.2 percent in 1994. It is too early to declare it a lasting trend, but the numbers seem to indicate a move toward more stay-at-home moms or dads at least when their children are small. Trade-offs of child care are also common. Here is a way one young mother handles her work and family situation: As a hairdresser she stays home Sunday–Wednesday to take care of her two-year-old son. She works at the salon Thursday–Saturday. On Thursdays her sister takes care of the boy, on Fridays her in-laws take over, and on Saturdays her husband is home from his accounting job and takes care of their son. This is an example of patching together child care and work arrangements, which is very common. This combining of care or blurring of the work and personal worlds is not just a social trend but also a response to technological change. Computers and the Internet have made it more difficult to determine who is employed for pay “outside the home” and who is not, because so much can be done from any location. So it is difficult to know whether the stay-at-home mothers are completely unemployed or are working part-time from home, although in the case of the hairdresser, she goes to a salon to meet her clients and also enjoys the camaraderie of being there during the busiest days. Some families also may have a family- owned business or may be working seasonally. One woman was told by her doctor to stay in bed for the last three months of her pregnancy. At that time she was writing her dissertation, so her husband, a librarian, brought her books and articles for her research and she typed away happily, and the baby was fine. Not everyone is choosing to have children—another trend to consider that may seem to contradict the one just described: Anne Hare and her husband made a momentous decision three years ago: They would not have children. It’s not that they don’t like kids, she says. They simply don’t want to alter the lifestyle they enjoy. “With kids, especially young kids, infants and toddlers, you really can’t do the active stuff we like to do,” said Hare, 43, a fitness-program coordinator from Gainesville, Ga. Hare is among 26.7 million women ages 15 to 44 who are childless, according to new Census Bureau data....The number of women forgoing or putting off motherhood—nearly 44 percent—has grown nearly 10 percent since 1990, when 24.3 million were in that class. (Armas, 2003, p. 8A) Besides personal choice, some influences on this trend include more women going to college and entering the workforce, then delaying motherhood or deciding not to have children; more families choosing adoption; changes in societal attitudes; more reliable forms of birth control and health and economic factors. The women most likely to be childless are Asian (just over half), followed by nonHispanic whites (46 percent), blacks (39 percent), and Hispanics (36 percent). Good decisions meet several criteria. As the previous examples show, they have to be acceptable to the persons most involved—the family, perhaps the physician, and the employer. Acceptance signifies that the key players in the decision acknowledge that it is reasonable and workable. Decisions also have to have quality, flexibility, and clarity. Quality means that the decision meets some standard, objective, or goal. If the decision does not do so, or if someone involved in the decision does not accept it, then the decision is likely to be ineffective. Thus, family decisions are more likely to succeed if they have the Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 131). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. support of family members and are linked to an agreed-upon standard, objective, or goal. In other words, in families, as in other groups, decisions that are co-created have a better chance of success than those that are individually created. Flexibility means that the decision should not only be appropriate to the situation but also be adjustable if the situation changes. For example, becoming engaged to be married may seem like a good decision under certain circumstances, but when attitudes or circumstances change (e.g., compatibility wanes, expectations change, another love interest comes into the picture), the couple may choose to break the engagement or wait a while. Clarity refers to how clear the decision is. Vague decisions do not work because they lack definition and commitment. Regarding fathers working and mothers staying at home (or vice versa), David Stevenson, an art director for a New York publishing house, who works so that his wife, Noreen, a former media buyer, can stay home with their two small children, says, You both commit not just to the marriage, but to this structure that you’ve set up—this notion that she will stay at home, I’ll work, and we’re in it together....You gain a certain strength from that—the stamina to press on when things get crazy. (Shellenbarger, 2003, p. D1) He adds that they remind themselves that the rough spots are only temporary and try to laugh about the problems, knowing they will pass. Another employed dad says, “If they want me to work longer hours, I work longer hours. If they want me to travel, I travel” (Shellenbarger, 2003, p. D1). Decisions Defined and Explored Decisions are conclusions or judgments about some issue or matter. Management recognizes the influence of values on decisions and the role of goals in providing direction to decisions. The decision process begins when a thing or a change is desired. Decision making, the Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 132). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. process of making a choice between two or more alternatives, is an integral part of the overall management process (see Figure 5.1). In systems terminology, decision making is part of the transformation process that incorporates various inputs and culminates in outputs. Sometimes the process involves negotiation or bargaining with others. The previous chapters on values, attitudes, goals, and resources have laid the groundwork for a full discussion of the decisionmaking process. This chapter begins by explaining the relationship between decision making and management, and then describes the steps in decision making. Decision models and rules are examined, along with their application to individuals and families. The chapter explains the difference between decision making and problem solving and explores the concepts of risk and uncertainty. Decision Making as Part of Management Why do we spend so much of our time being active? Why don’t we just lie in bed and watch the world go by? Because when it comes to living, we are programmed as humans to be active, to accomplish things, and to find out what is going on. We want to make an impact. An active life requires decisions and effort. We want smooth relationships. People want to have something they do not have, and they have to make decisions and plans to bridge the gap between what is and what could be. Decision making is essential to maintaining and improving life conditions, including home design. Values guide decisions. A decision maker values an issue or a life condition enough to spend time thinking about it. Values also influence decision makers because they realize that the choices they make will have positive or negative consequences. For example, “design decisions influence how comfortably we live and how much it costs us to attain the lifestyle we aspire to, and thus deserve extraordinary consideration” (Chiras, 2000, p. 2). Decisions vary in intensity and importance. The purpose and content of decisions are related to other aspects of the management process, such as planning, implementing, and cost–benefit analysis. For example, each decision entails a cost in time and energy and sometimes money. Decision makers try to minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of a decision. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 133). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. This desire to maximize positive outcomes and to minimize mistakes motivates individuals to make the best decisions that they can. Curiously, the plots of many movies, books, and television shows feature individuals who do just the opposite. These characters make decisions that minimize positive outcomes and maximize mistakes. Watching the characters disentangle themselves from their mistakes and put their lives back in order can be interesting and enlightening. Observing how others make decisions and solve problems on television, especially on dating, game, and reality shows like Survivor, can help sharpen an individual’s own decisionmaking and problem-solving skills. Decision situations present both problems and opportunities. In analyzing decision situations, individuals appraise alternatives and identify useful information and resources. An important resource is time. An individual or family can save time by eliminating alternatives that do not fit their values. Why waste time considering an alternative that is morally or ethically unacceptable? Ralph Keeney (1988), a values expert, suggests that if “we begin with values,” then “we might not even think of situations as decision problems, but rather as decision opportunities”: “Periodically, we might examine achievement on the basis of our values and ask, ‘can we do better?’” (p. 466). As it is value based, decision making is highly personalized. Each individual’s personality and usual modes of thinking and acting influence the way he or she makes decisions. Mood affects decision-making ability and styles. There is one’s personal way of reacting to moods and also we can “catch” the mood of others. If someone is upset at work and acting out then others can pick up on the mood or situation and the whole workplace can operate under a shadow or a cloud. Each person’s decision making also tends to follow a pattern, with successful decisions being repeated again and again. The characteristic way that a person makes decisions is called his or her decisionmaking style. Thus, decision-making styles are affected by individuals’ values, knowledge, ability, and motivation. The types of decisions made, the speed at which decisions are made, and the amount of information gathered before making a decision are all part of a person’s decision-making style. For example, some individuals are quick deciders; others are more deliberate. Differences in style are also evident in the evaluation phase at the end of the decision-making process. Some individuals look back and agonize over every thought and action, whereas others think about past decisions only for a few minutes and then go on. Some decision styles are irritating. Suppose you go to a meeting, and the boss asks for your opinion. You invest time and effort and present an opinion only to find out that the decision had already been made. How would you feel? Similarly, in a family how would children feel after being asked for their opinion if they find out that their parents had already made the decision? It has been said that deciders suffer alone, but those who don’t make decisions make others also suffer. It’s easier to extract a wisdom tooth than a decision from some managers—even if there aren’t any wisdom teeth to pull. When David Turnley was a technical writer for a financial-data software company, his boss made so few decisions that no one ever knew what she wanted. Yet, she had to be involved in every decision that she never made. Mr. Turnley himself had some direct reports, and rather than try to explain what he thought she might want done, he frequently let them work directly with her, he says. Her indecision stemmed from a fear of being viewed in a poor light from above. But it was contagious and nerve-racking to those below. (Sandberg, 2008, p. B1) Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 134). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. These steps are discussed in detail in the next paragraphs. Step 1: Define the Decision. In defining the decision, the individual should take into account the purpose of the needed behavior, and the relevant background information—what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. In so doing, the layers of a potential decision are peeled back to reveal the core of the situation. Once the decision has been defined, the decision maker can move on to the next step. Step 2: Estimate the Resources Needed. The decision maker has to decide what resources will be needed. As discussed in the previous chapter, resources include time, energy, money, information, and anything else that is useful to the decision and subsequent planning and action. The number of possible alternatives is limited by the resources possessed or anticipated in the future. A ski vacation in Utah is out of the question if a person has only a hundred dollars to spend. Step 3: Consider Alternatives. What we are looking for in this step is compatibility or congruency. Given the limitations on their resources, individuals seldom consider all alternatives. For example, test-driving every car on the market before choosing one would be impractical. Instead, a prospective buyer would eliminate many models because of their cost, accessibility, features, and style or because they did not suit her tastes and preferences; then she would test-drive just a few cars. Narrowing down the possibilities to one or two acceptable alternatives is an important part of the decision process. Step 4: Imagine the Consequences of Alternative Courses of Action. Imagining or thinking through the most likely alternatives is the next step. Envisioning what will happen if a certain decision is made is so enjoyable or distasteful that some people get stuck on this step. For example, in consumer decision making, this step involves prepurchase expectations, which are beliefs about the anticipated performance of a product or service. Before buying, people usually try to imagine how much pleasure or pain they will get from the purchase. Step 5: Develop an Action Plan and Implement It. Once an alternative is selected, a course of action, a strategy, must be developed. Putting the decision into action is called implementation. During this step, the decision maker monitors the progress being made and evaluates how well implementation is proceeding. Are things going as planned? On schedule? Are adjustments to the plan necessary? Step 6: Evaluate the Decision. After the process has been completed, the decision maker looks back to judge how successful the decision was. “Did I make the right decision?” “Should I have done something else?” In consumer decision making, this step involves postpurchase dissonance. After a major purchase, such as a car, the buyer is likely to seek some reinforcement for the decision by talking to other owners of the same model or reading advertisements or news stories about the car. Being assured that the right decision was made reduces doubt or anxiety. The right decision will also be reinforced if, for example, the bag boy or girl at the grocery store says, “hey, cool car!” when loading groceries in the car’s trunk. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 136). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. The chances of postpurchase dissonance, at least the doubt about whether one made the right decision or not, are reduced if there were no or few alternatives to start with. Let’s say someone moves to a town, and there is only one house for sale. The person will buy it and not look back, because there were no other choices at that time. However, if confronted with dozens of choices, that homebuyer is more likely to wonder whether he or she made the best decision. Self-Doubt, Self-Ambivalence, and Decision Making Self-perceptions including selfdoubt and self-ambivalence affect decision making. Self-doubt can cloud the ability to make decisions or to accept decisions once made. Some people have no choice but to make fast decisions. Presidents and parents, after all, are expected to make crucial decisions on a dime. Doctors are being asked to save lives, and graduate students to know how Aristotle’s conception of virtue differed from Acquinas’s conception of—uh-oh. Who’s kidding whom? (Carey, 2008, p. D5) Social psychologists have studied the imposter phenomenon since the 1970s when they found that high-achieving women often suspected that they really weren’t as capable as others thought, that somehow they had fooled everybody, and that their success was owing to some kind of luck rather than achievement. Since then other studies have documented the same effect in adolescents and adults, male and female, of all ages. Perhaps this is a reflection of being an anxious or self-critical person or a societal stereotype, or it could be the phenomenon that limits them or affects their future goal-setting. Questionnaires to determine self-doubt and feeling like an imposter may ask respondents to react to the following types of statements: • If I receive a promotion or award, I am hesitant to tell others. • I can give the impression that I am more competent than I am. • Sometimes I feel my success hinges more on luck than anything else. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 137). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Respondents have to indicate whether they would strongly agree or disagree with these statements, or whether they would fit somewhere in the middle. In a Wake Forest University survey, psychologists investigating students’ test-taking behavior found that students who scored high on an imposter scale would tell the experimenter that they would do poorly on the upcoming test of intellectual and social skills: “Sure enough, the self-styled imposters predicted that they would do poorly” (Carey, 2008, p. D5). They went in with a mind-set of self-doubt. But, when they were asked privately—anonymously, as they were told—how they thought they did on the test, the same people rated themselves higher. This shows that what other people think—in this case, the experimenters—affects this “I am an imposter” response. It would seem all this is rather negative and holding people back, but other studies have shown that it appears not to be paralyzing. In one study, college women who scored high on anxiety level and imposter feelings as they approached academic goals actually also scored high on a desire to show others that they could do better. In other words, they had the competitive spirit and tried harder (Carey, 2008). So, self-doubt is a factor to consider in decision making, but it does not appear to hold individuals back, and emotionally well-adapted people also feel self-doubt some of the time. Self-ambivalence has not been as thoroughly researched as self-doubt but what self-ambivalence refers to is uncertainty or indecisiveness as to what course to follow (e.g., what to purchase) because of a conflicted attitude toward the self. A self-ambivalent person may report that they are torn between different parts of their personality and thus this interferes with decision making. It may exist because there are conflicting thoughts or feelings about a person, an object, a product, or idea. Someone would be said to be ambivalent and self-ambivalence may be linked to low self-esteem (Riketta & Ziegler, 2006). In the workplace, an employee could feel ambivalent about a boss or a coworker or they could feel ambivalent about themselves. Models, Rules, and Utility Although change is a necessary part of life, many individuals are reluctant to change and continue to follow existing patterns of behavior. Adhering to established goals and objectives and the plans, strategies, and tactics devised for attaining those goals is referred to as “maintaining the status quo.” According to Silver and Mitchell (1990), when faced with uncertain alternatives, most people tend to stay with the status quo. But if a person, family, or organization wants to change or to understand the mechanisms of decision making, they may find decision-making models useful. These models assume that rational decision makers will evaluate alternatives and then make the best possible choice. As decision making is an abstract concept, decision-making models are useful because they provide a way to visualize how the elements of a decision interact. Figure 5.2 shows examples of the central-satellite and chain models. In the central-satellite model, a central decision is surrounded by decisions that are offshoots of the central decision. In the chain model, each decision builds on the previous one, forming a sequence of decisions, such as the steps involved in preparing a meal. The chain model is appropriate for smaller, systematic decisions, whereas the central-satellite model is suitable for larger, more complicated situations. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 138). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Businesses such as catering services or conference- and wedding-planning services use both models to organize receptions, banquets, meetings, and events. As illustrated in Figure 5.3, values lie at the base of decisions. Two other concepts in management, resources and goals, also play important roles. Decision trees are not only used in business strategy sessions, but they can also be used by individuals in personal and professional decision making. The model shows that people select alternatives based on their goals and perception of available resources and that values underlie decisions. A more usual Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 139). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. method used by many individuals in choosing between alternatives (e.g., whether to move to one locale or another, which job offer to select) is to make a pros-and-cons list. Decision Rules Models operate on certain principles or rules of logic. Decision rules are principles that guide decision making. One decision rule is that decision makers will seek the best outcomes. Another decision rule is that individuals will try to use their time to best advantage, wasting as little as possible. However, this varies by situation and by culture. A study of Chinese students found that they were not very time-conscious, but they were quite price- and qualityconscious (Fan & Xiao, 1998). utility One of the most important decision rules is the necessity to optimize utility, or the usefulness, of decisions. The concept of utility underlies much of the study of economics and is strongly associated with the study of management. Rational decision makers are assumed to seek the maximum utility (satisfaction) from the decisions they make. Furthermore, the utility concept focuses on how choices are made and on how that process can be improved. A related decision rule is that consumers have limited information; they may not be aware of all the alternatives that exist. The next section on reference groups provides one explanation of why individuals may have only partial knowledge. Reference Groups Decisions have histories. For example, Allison orders pepperoni pizza because she knows from past experience that she likes it. Besides past experiences, past and present relationships affect an individual’s decision making. If Allison begins dating Trae, who is a vegetarian, and he prefers pizza with cheese, green peppers, olives, and onions, they have several options: They can order two pizzas, or they can order a pizza that is half pepperoni and half vegetarian, or Allison can learn to skip the pepperoni. This simple joint decision-making situation illustrates how many choices exist and how individual tastes and relationships affect those choices. The people who influence an individual or provide guidance or advice are members of that person’s reference groups. Trae and Allison are members of each other’s reference groups. Figure 5.4 illustrates a typical college student’s reference groups. An individual does not have to be present in person or geographically close to be a member of a reference group. A person is considered part of a reference group if the memory of his or her values and attitudes affects someone’s decision making. For example, Rob, a newspaper editor, has not seen his high school journalism teacher for many years, but she is still a member of Rob’s reference group because he thinks of her often and when he makes decisions about his paper, he remembers what she taught him. Reference groups can be divided into two types, primary and secondary, depending on the amount of contact the individual has with a person or group. An individual has regular contact with the people in primary reference groups; family, coworkers, and close friends fall into this category. Secondary reference groups include those individuals and groups with whom Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 140). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. contact is infrequent, such as distant relatives, organizations, and professional associations. The influence of reference groups on decision making and behavior cannot be overestimated. Personal Decision Making Although all decisions—from which car to buy to whether to smoke— are influenced by others, ultimately the individual is responsible for his or her own decisions. Individuals begin to learn decision making at an early age. During the socialization process, children are given the opportunity to make choices and to learn from decision situations. By the time they become adults, most people assume themselves to be competent decision makers. In reality, however, this assumption may fall short if there is a difference between the actual and perceived quality of decisions. The actual quality of decisions refers to what is truly happening. The perceived quality of decisions refers to what an individual thinks is happening in the decision process. Potentially, then, people can deceive themselves into thinking that a poor decision is a good one or at least an acceptable one. Experience and improved decision-making skills can narrow the gap between the perceived and the actual. Decision-making style is affected not only by an individual’s socialization, knowledge, ability, and motivation, but also by his or her personality traits such as compulsiveness, open-mindedness, innovativeness, selfconfidence, and courage. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 141). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Another factor that can affect decision-making style is self-esteem. Low self-esteem often results in indecisiveness. In other words, someone who is unsure of his or her ability to make sound decisions is likely to be indecisive. Indecisiveness can be a major problem for individuals, families, and organizations. Possible causes of indecisiveness are • Stress • Ill health, depression • Fear of the unknown • Procrastination • Fear of making a wrong decision or mistake • Fear of acting on one’s own • Lack of “good judgment” • Feeling overwhelmed • Fear of taking responsibility or standing alone on an issue • Overdependency on other people’s opinions inDecisiveness anD the PeteR PRinciPle Some individuals always seem to be indecisive; others are indecisive only in certain situations. Lawrence J. Peter and Raymond Hall (1969) proposed an explanation for indecisive behavior. They suggested that people may reach a point in their work at which they can no longer successfully function. Specifically, Peter and Hall said that people tend to be promoted until they reach a level beyond their competence—a point at which they can no longer make and implement effective decisions. They called this phenomenon the Peter Principle. Even though the Peter Principle is pervasive, it can be avoided by fitting the right person to the right job and by making performance expectations clear from the outset. Examples of this principle can be found in a variety of organizations and settings, including the home and the community. avoiDing Decisions Being indecisive is linked to another decision-making phenomenon—avoidance. Passing the decision-making buck is one way individuals avoid decisions. Avoidance typically results in statements such as the following: • “I thought you were going to settle this.” • “That’s not my job.” • “You’re the boss. Don’t ask me what I think, just tell me what to do.” • “Why is it up to me?” Failure to assign clear responsibility for tasks in the home or at the office may lead to some of these remarks. When chores are not assigned and the dishes are not done or the garbage is not taken out, family members may all say, “That’s not my job.” Parents and children need to have a clear understanding of who will do what in the home. At the same time, tasks, chores, and duties are not static. Nonperformance may also result because goals and priorities have changed; there are no longer commonly held beliefs about how to act. There is a fundamental difference between compliance and commitment. Complying means going along with some idea or action. Commitment signifies belief in an idea or action. High-commitment workplaces and households are more productive and are more comfortable places to be. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 142). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. DeciDoPhobia Not making decisions is also a decision. Decidophobia is the fear of making decisions, specifically the fear of failure. Sometimes the problem stems from being overwhelmed with choices. Sherwin Williams has over 1,400 different colors of paint; how could a decidophobic choose given that array of choices? Here is another example of consumer overload: In one year U.S. manufacturers came up with 150 new deodorant and antiperspirant products, whereas a few years earlier the number was only 20 (Forelle, 2003). A person with decidophobia is frozen and cannot choose an alternative or form a plan of action. Decidophobics see decisions as problems, not as opportunities. Here are a few ways decidophobics can break out of the nondecisive mode: • Use the decision-making models and the DECIDE acronym, which divide decisions into parts. Often it is easier to break a big decision into smaller parts and make those decisions first. • Moderate expectations. • Start each day with the single most important task and complete it. If you are a list maker, do not have more than five items on the list; that way you are more likely to get everything done and feel a greater sense of accomplishment and control. • Step back from the decision; sleep on it overnight; give it some time. You might even think about a vacation or a change of scene as a way to get perspective. • Talk it over with caring friends or family members: Perhaps there is a fresh approach, an avenue you have not considered, or perhaps talking about it will at least offer the chance to clarify what you really want. Mark Twain said, “I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.” Decidophobia is a learned behavior; it is a type of helplessness (dependency on others); and it is a form of perfectionism. So that they don’t establish this pattern, young children should be given the opportunity to experience decision making (e.g., choosing the red shirt or the blue one, the apple or the orange) in order to develop decision-making skills. Setting up a variety of activity areas or learning centers in preschools or kindergartens is an excellent way to provide children with early decision-making experiences. During free time, the children can choose the activity they want to engage in, whom they want to be with, and what they want to accomplish—all useful life preparation skills. intuition Intuition plays a role in decision making. One way to increase decision-making acumen is to trust feelings and instincts (Kaye, 1996). A multistep approach, like the one mentioned earlier in the chapter, is not always necessary to select a course of action. Sometimes decisions are influenced by intuition, or the sense of knowing what to do without going through rational processes. For example, Brad accompanies Kirsten, his wife, to two out-of-state interviews. Brad likes one state but cannot stand the other, although he cannot give specific reasons for his feelings. Fortunately, Kirsten gets offers from both employers, and she and Brad choose the state they both feel good about. As it is difficult to measure, intuition is one of the least scientific aspects of decision making, but it is still recognized as a factor. As another example, when making an offer on Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 143). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. a house, should you pay the suggested price of $250,000 or should you offer $240,000 or $245,000? What does your research of house prices in the area (price per square foot and so forth) tell you? What does your intuition tell you? Should you go lower and hope the homeowner takes the offer, but be ready to renegotiate if necessary? Or should you offer the suggested price? Sizing up situations involves rational decision making and information seeking as well as intuition. Family Decision Making, including Division of household work The main difference between personal and family decision making is that the latter is more complex. The more people involved in making a decision or potentially affected by a decision, the more complex the decision process is likely to be. Consider, for example, how difficult it can be for five coworkers to decide where to go to lunch or for a group of friends to decide which movie to see. Similar difficulties can arise in a family setting, depending on how many family members are involved in each decision. In a simple situation, only one family member is involved in making a decision and everyone else simply accepts whatever that person decides. For example, one person may suggest going to the school basketball game, and the entire family agrees and accepts the decision. In a more complex situation, each family member may suggest a different course of action. Instead of agreeing to go to the basketball game together, the family members go off in different directions: The teenage son goes to the basketball game, the mother to a PTA meeting, the daughter to a friend’s house, and the father to a club meeting. If the family has only one car, this is going to be a difficult situation to manage. These examples illustrate two of the questions raised by family decision making: Will the manager alone make most of the decisions, or does each family member have a say? Are most decisions made smoothly, or is conflict more usual? Homes and families can provide a base for cooperation, coordination, and negotiation. Family members bring to this base their own needs and wants, but sometimes one family member’s needs and wants are in conflict with another’s. When conflict rather than harmony is characteristic of the home or family, the decision-making process becomes more complicated. A practical example of a family decision-making situation is who does what in the home. Women are more likely to do the laundry, prepare meals, shop for groceries, clean the house, care for children, buy gifts, make decisions about furniture and decoration, and wash dishes. Men are more likely to do yard work, make minor home repairs, and keep the car in good condition. Although this is changing in recent years, with men doing more than in the past in child care and food preparation, women still spend more time in housework than men. Men do more housework when they live alone but spend fewer hours on it when they live with their parents (Baxter, Haynes, & Hewitt, 2010, p. 1523). A fundamental question in marriage and family research is whether cohabitating before marriage affects or leads to more equalitarian housework arrangements. The answer is probably yes, that equal division of labor is well established before marriage in previously cohabitating couples (Baxter et al., 2010, p. 1506). Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 144). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Coltrane (1989) concluded: “Generally, mothers were more likely than fathers to act as managers for cooking, cleaning, and child care, but over half of the couples showed responsibility in all areas” (p. 480). For information on time use in the home please refer to the American Time Use Survey taken by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here are some of the results from the 2010 survey. • Less time continues to be spent overall on housework. (American households spent 30 percent less time on household chores than in 1965.) • More husband participation, with fathers tripling their domestic work since 1965. • More shared responsibility in the home. To break this down further, • In 1965, married women spent an average of 33.9 hours per week on housework; in 1995, the number was 19.4. In the latest American Time Use Survey, mothers with full-time jobs and young children have the largest total workload, logging five more hours a week than dads. • For married men, the average weekly housework hours in 1965 were 4.7 compared to 10.4 in 1995 (Bianchi, Milkie, Sayer, & Robinson, 2000). Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 145). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. In more and more households, partners share activities such as child care and grocery shopping. For example, one study revealed that in 14 percent of the households men and women share grocery-shopping duties. In response to this and the research finding that men are more likely to buy whatever they see, Audrey Guskey, a marketing professor at Duquesne University, says that stores court men with end-of-aisle displays of chips, beer, and soft drinks— items men commonly buy on impulse (Meyer, 1997). Who shops and who does what in the home continue to be contested terrains. Household members need to have clean living quarters, food to eat, and clean clothes to wear; and if there are children, they need to be cared for. Homes that are clean and neat seem calmer, roomier, and healthier. The critical thinking exercise brings up the point that men are cooking more in the home and this surge is part of a more balanced division of labor in most households. Individuals who live together have to decide on a standard of living, a comfort zone they can live with. Possible solutions to getting the housework done more efficiently and more pleasantly include • Trying teamwork: picking a half hour or an hour a week to clean together, perhaps Saturday morning, and concentrating on tasks like mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms. • Keeping communication lines open, renegotiating tasks. • Not wearing shoes in the house and having a place or box near each entry door where shoes can be kept; or at least having outside mats to rub shoes on before entering the house. • Having a chart or checklist; rewards for completion of tasks. • Buying the latest equipment and products to make the tasks easier. For a two-story house, putting cleaning supplies and vacuum cleaners on each floor; in a multi-bathroom house, putting cleaning supplies in each bathroom. • Multitasking by listening to music while cleaning; folding laundry while watching television. • Using time fragments, cleaning for short periods of time and taking a break. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 146). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. • Cleaning from the top down. As dust settles, starting at the top of a bookshelf or ceiling fan and working downward. • Using space fragments, dividing a room into areas and cleaning one area at a time. • Attacking the area that is most visually bothersome first. • Reading labels, making sure the products are being used correctly. If the label says to leave the product on for 10 minutes for best results, do it. • Hiring help, outsourcing. At what point does doing so make financial sense, figuring in satisfaction and pleasure? Economists are looking at household production in a fresh way. A finding of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its 2003 Survey was that if a person’s income is more than $44,000 a year, it makes more financial sense to hire a lawn service than do it oneself (assuming the person dislikes this task). Tasks can be divided into two categories: consumption, which is enjoyable, and production, which feels more like work. Take gardening, for example. Is that work or leisure? If a person hates it, then hiring someone to do it makes sense. Families, enviRonment, anD the elbing moDel According to Marshall (1991), “the future of American families is not predetermined, but depends heavily on the choices made by families, employers and especially public institutions” (p. 5). Consequently, family decision making is strongly influenced by families’ awareness of what is feasible and acceptable in the environment in which they live. Alvar Elbing developed a model (see Figure 5.5) to illustrate how two individuals in a family make decisions given their reference groups, perceived and acceptable alternatives, and environmental constraints. The Elbing model demonstrates that decisions are influenced by many factors and considerations. The XYZ section in the center of the model represents the solution, because alternatives in this section are perceived by both individuals and are acceptable in the environment. accommoDation, consensual Decision making, anD De Facto Decision making There are three types or styles of family decision making: accommodation, consensual, and de facto. In accommodation, the family reaches an agreement by accepting the point of view of the dominant person. Power is a critical factor in accommodation. In consensual decision making, the family reaches an agreement equally acceptable to all individuals involved. De facto decision making is characterized by a lack of dissent rather than by active assent. It usually occurs when no one really cares about the outcome of the decision. For instance, no one in a family may have strong feelings about which television show to watch. Families in which husband and wife share equally in making most of the decisions are syncratic. Families can also be autonomic, which means that an equal number of decisions are made independently by each spouse. Thus, in syncratic families the decisions are shared, whereas in autonomic families the spouses make an equal number of separate decisions. Usually, the partner who commands the greater amount of material resources will achieve greater power in spousal decision making. Newer studies suggest that decision-making power in couples is also related to their emotional interdependence, and ability to control each other and influence the ultimate degree of consensus. Godwin and Scanzoni (1989) theorized that the more modern the gender role preference of the wife, the less control her husband had. Their study of 188 married couples revealed that socio-emotional factors affected both coerciveness and control. Specifically, emotional bonding contributes to spouses’ influence over each other and also to whether they reach a consensus. “Spouses who reached higher levels of consensus included husbands who had patterns of previous cooperativeness during conflict situations, more equitable economic resources of the spouses, wives whose communication styles were less coercive, and spouses who demonstrated greater control” (p. 943). Further, husbands who were committed to the marital relationship were more likely to respond positively to their wives’ suggestions, ideas, and directives. In conclusion, it appears that explaining decision-making power (who decides what and to what extent) in couples is more complicated than simply looking at who contributes the greater amount of resources. Other important factors include how close to each other the husband and wife are, the degree of cooperativeness and communication between them, and their levels of education. For example, a study in India revealed that literate women participated to a greater extent in decisions related to health and size of the family, their children’s education, and the family’s investments and savings than did illiterate women (Mohanty, 1996). The types of decision making discussed so far have involved couple-centered families in which most decisions are made by the spouses. An alternate scenario is childcentered families in which the children make or affect most of the decisions of the whole family, including the choice of foods, television shows, and activities. Actually, the difference between couple-centered and child-centered families is not absolute, for children affect decisions in every family. Nevertheless, children do have more influence in some families than in others. The next section will discuss family and couple consumer decision making and show how children influence parents’ buying behaviors. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 148). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Consumer Decision Making in Families Scottish professors Monika Schroder and Sabine McKinnon (2007), researching the learning of good judgment in regard to key consumer skills, found that the family in its primary role as creator of values was considered the most important agent in the consumer education process. Why? Because, according to the subjects in the study, the family establishes a routine pattern of decision making. The researchers say that families are value transmitters. Other sources of consumer skill development were the support from social networks in the wider community and real-life experience through trial and error. Consumer decision making in the marketplace provides an excellent illustration of family decision making. How one family spends money may not seem that important, but, collectively, family spending amounts to billions of dollars when multiplied across all families. For this reason, manufacturers and advertisers spend enormous amounts of money on consumer research to determine who decides what in a family and why. In short, consumer decision making is big business and the driving force behind the well-being of national economies. Complicating this interaction between consumers and the marketplace is a level of distrust. After interviewing people of several nationalities Schroder and McKinnon said: Respondents made it clear that the balance between consumer and producer power was not entirely satisfactory. In particular, it emerged that the motives of marketers are still viewed with suspicion. Respondents spoke of “being manipulated” (Danish female; Polish male), “ripped off” (French female), “falling into traps” (Spanish female), “don’t believe all you see on TV” (Spanish female). (Schroder & McKinnon, 2007, p. 158) Families must decide (1) what to buy, (2) where to shop, (3) how much to pay, (4) when to buy, and (5) who should buy. The first decision is the most important—families have to decide whether they want to buy something. This decision leads to the other four. Deciding what to buy is more difficult when there are countless brands to consider. For example, 34 new food products are launched each day in the United States (Mogelonsky, 1998). Let’s consider the “when-to-buy” decision. There are life change points that radically affect consumption. Examples are marriage, having children, moving, getting a job, getting a dog, buying a house, empty nesting, and retiring. Newlyweds are the ultimate consumers, buying more in the first six months of marriage than a settled household does in five years (Ellison & Tejada, 2003). The publisher of Bride’s and Modern Bride magazines estimates that U.S. newlyweds spend $70 billion establishing their households. In many instances, life changes stimulate gift buying as well as buying for one’s own consumption. A growing number of couples register for gifts and some ask for gift cards. One couple who were remodeling their house and with the wife-to-be aged 43 asked for Home Depot gift cards and received nearly $3,500, enough for plenty of remodeling supplies and a few appliances (Shellenbarger, 2011, p. D2). Jason, a 24-year-old recent college graduate, explained it this way: All my friends are getting married. So my girlfriend and I are buying wedding gifts every couple of months and we’ve never done this before. We try to find something that fits what they like to do, like cooking, keeping in mind what their style is— contemporary or traditional. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 149). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Cueing into life changes has not escaped marketers: Corporate marketers say certain points in life make consumers especially vulnerable to sales pitches, with the soon-to-be-married often being the most susceptible. It’s a time when they aren’t just choosing a marriage partner, but also are making brand decisions about toothpaste, detergent, and appliances that could last even longer. Unless a couple has been living together for years, weddings represent a moment when two sets of habits and brand preferences meet and usually only one survives. (Ellison & Tejada, 2003, p. B1) The family decision-making process involves eight distinct roles (see Table 5.1). These roles provide a way of conceptualizing how family members make decisions—some family members are buyers, others users, still others influencers, and so on. For example, a mother or father buys disposable diapers, the baby uses them, and the parent who changes the diaper disposes of it. Purchases based on family decision making can involve conflict. For example, a couple may differ about the amount of money to spend, the brand or type of good to buy, the stores to shop in, or who should do the purchasing. Conflict will decrease if the couple agrees on which goals are desirable. Purchasing decisions may be influenced by a number of variables, including reference groups, work life, leisure pursuits, culture, subculture, social class, stage in the life cycle, mobility, geographical location, and children. For instance, young families with preschool children have different buying decisions to make than do retired couples. Joint decision making is most common among the middle class, whereas autonomous decision making is most likely in the upper and lower classes (Loudon & Della Bitta, 1988). Children have a significant influence on their parents’ buying habits. A study by Infocus Environmental of Princeton, New Jersey, found that one-third of parents changed their shopping habits because of environmental information their children gave them. When questioned Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 150). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. about their information source, the children said they learned about the environment in school. The study reported in Marketing News (Schlossberg, 1992) indicated that children affect their parents’ buying and shopping habits by encouraging them to purchase items in recyclable packaging (24 percent) and to avoid products in containers that are not recyclable or biodegradable (17 percent). The study concluded that children are influencing far more than the particular foods their parents purchase and that they are having a significant impact on their parents’ environmental consciousness. Getting Out of the House Much of the previous coverage has been on children, consumption, and household responsibilities, joint decision making, and so on. It is also important to note that a surprising number of Americans are less home-focused: They are getting out of the house—going to gyms, parties, restaurants, clubs, and bookstores. This trend is called hatching, a term that refers to local-area nesting, finding other places outside of the work or the home where one can spend time. Hatching has also been called “the third space” and is epitomized by television shows like Cheers and Friends and How I Met Your Mother. People are looking for ways to reconnect through discussion groups, book clubs, investment clubs, and jogging or biking groups. They may purposely move to planned urban developments (PUDs) with built-in activities and town centers with shops and restaurants, join bird-watching groups, or take up gardening, hiking, photography, running, and boating. Some of these activities are free and some are costly. For individuals returning to outdoor activities a whole range of equipment, clothing, and accessories is necessary. Getting out there isn’t cheap: “My husband would have a stroke if he knew the price,” says Jackie Menefee, who put together a quick weekend getaway to get out for a change. The couple made a two-hour drive from their Chesapeake, Va., home to an ocean resort for two nights of pampering and a Champagne tasting. They had a good time, but she wasn’t prepared for a $600 tab. “It was very upscale,” she says. (Daspin, 2003, p. W9) On a more modest scale, one home owner drives to Home Depot or Lowe’s, home supply stores, every Saturday morning and looks around and drinks a cup of coffee. Others go to flea markets, garage sales, or antiquing with friends. Carol Ann Band says she’s just happy to get out. Between growing her own vegetables for home-made baby food to weekly Sunday dinner with relatives, all the time spent in the house is wearing thin. Now the 37-year-old in Fresno, Calif. has hit on a way to relieve the stress: she joined a women’s tennis league and is playing a couple times a week. “I’m a better mom for the hours I take away,” she says. (Daspin, 2003, p. W9) As we know from systems theory, activities wax and wane. There is a cyclical, or wavelike, effect, and the nesting instinct is not immune from it. It goes in and out of fashion. In the early 1980s the term “cocooning” caught on big as people retreated from the dirt and crime of the streets into their safe and warm homes. Baby boomers were buying their first homes Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 151). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. and filling them up with oversized furniture and children’s equipment. The phrase “couch potato” emerged. September 11, 2001 brought another wave of nesting behavior as families drew closer in the wake of the terrorist attacks and the uncertainty that followed. National, international, and business travel slowed. Huge sectional sofas began to sell as well as home theaters costing $100,000 or more. At the same time, sociologists noticed a countermovement of people looking for companionship and connectedness outside the home. Church attendance and library use went up for a while. Perhaps there is a limit to how much home and family time is possible. “You can only cocoon with your family for so long,” says Erik Gordon, a professor who studies consumer trends at the University of Florida. “Even if they don’t drive you nuts, they bore you” (Daspin, 2003, p. W1). In 2011, when people were isolated in their homes without power because of Hurricane Irene and other storms they longed to get outside and reconnect with the rest of the world. The search for the right balance of time inside and outside the family/home continues, and much of it is driven by a person’s life stage as well as by environmental and economic conditions. Much of what this book is about is that search and the factors that play into it. Problem Solving Problems are questions or situations that present uncertainty, risk, perplexity, or difficulty. Problem solving involves making many decisions that lead to a resolution of the problem. In some disciplines, the terms “decision making” and “problem solving” are used interchangeably, but in family resource management they are used differently. Decision making encompasses all sorts of situations (many of them routine), needs, and wants, whereas problem solving implies that a certain degree of difficulty or risk is involved. An example of a decision is whether to wear a blue shirt or a green shirt. A problem is more complicated than that—there are more factors, more variety. As noted earlier, the more number of people involved in a decision, the more complex the decision process. Thus, family problem solving is usually more complex than individual problem solving. Because problems arise from difficulty or crises, they put even more strain on families than routine decision making. If any family member has hidden agendas or demands, problem definition or analysis can be extremely difficult. Skilled family managers can often spot potential problem areas and try to resolve them before they become full-blown problems involving intense family conflict. An example of a problem situation for families is who to invite to a wedding and another is how to deal with child care or elder care emergencies. Put yourself in the role of decades long family arguments with marriages and remarriages. Or, the situation of working at a job and receiving a call from the day care center that your child is running a temperature and you need to come right away to take the child home, or the nursing home calls and says that your dad fell down and has been taken to the hospital. Another situation is your grandma is in an independent living community and your family gets the call that grandma can no longer function because of Alzheimer’s disease. On her own, she can no longer find her apartment or the dining room. She crossed a four-lane highway by herself and wandered down the street and had to be brought back. The facility is asking your family to remove grandma and find a more appropriate place with more personal services. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 152). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. While child-care problems get more attention in the workplace, the emergencies that beset the aged—a fall, a stroke, the errant behavior of dementia—tend to be more disruptive, forcing working caregivers to drop everything and rush to the scene. But how do you lay the groundwork at work for a crisis you can’t foresee? From consultants, coaches and caregivers, here are some ideas: Work as if you’re leaving tomorrow for vacation. “Get your backlog as close to zero as you can, and keep it there,” says David Allen, a productivity coach. Create an understandable system to track projects and documents. (Shellenbarger, 2008, p. B1) Dealing with unpredictable long-term caregiving like elder care is different from short-term emergencies like the one or two stay-home days for a child. Experts also suggest marshalling resources (know your employer’s time-off policies, your rights under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act), gathering medical information, and making arrangements. “When caring for her late parents, Diana Abouchar, Northbrook, Ill., made a habit of working long hours and finishing projects promptly. When a crisis called her away, she says, ‘I left no trace’ of undone work” (Shellenbarger, 2008, p. B1). Definition, Analysis/Timing, and Plan of Action Usually people do not spontaneously become aware of a problem and then suddenly decide to search for and analyze relevant information (Fay & Wallace, 1987). Instead, the person or family is motivated by dissatisfaction with the current state of things. As motivated processes, problem awareness and analysis are subject to five levels of motivation influences: 1. Needs, motives, and goals of the problem solver; 2. Perceptions and beliefs of the problem solver; 3. Values of the problem solver; 4. Resources of the problem solver; 5. Learning, background, and previous experience of the problem solver. These influences affect the way a person defines a problem and makes decisions to solve the problem. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 153). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. PRoblem DeFinition Problem recognition or definition is the first step in problem solving. The person has to recognize the problem as such before engaging in purposeful behavior to resolve the situation. Problem definition is a creative process requiring the individual to see common threads and sense important cause–effect relationships. For example, the person needs to uncover the underlying symptoms that have caused the problem. How does one go about this? According to David Nylen, “Problems are best defined in the form of questions. Doing so provides clear direction for the rest of the process. The task of the decision maker becomes one of providing a solution or decision that will answer the question....The final decision must fulfill and reflect the underlying cause of the situation” (1990, pp. 51–52). Complicated problems demand more energy and attention because their cause (or causes) may be hidden or multifaceted. Once the problem is defined, the individual can move on to the next step in problem solving—problem analysis. As a practical example, the next sections will show how Michelle engages in problem solving after her boss tells her that she has been denied a promotion because she lacks administrative experience. PRoblem analysis/timing Depending on the type of problem and the individuals involved, problems can be viewed as messes or as experiences that simply require a logical and reasonable response. For example, after being denied a promotion, Michelle could respond or act in many ways. She knows she has a problem (the problem is clearly defined); now she has to decide what she is going to do about it. No two problems are the same because each involves its own unique timing, individuals, and circumstances, and stems from a specific situation. To solve complicated problems, the individual needs to systematically follow the decision steps discussed earlier in this chapter. Taking shortcuts in the decision process will only result in incomplete information that will complicate the problem situation further. As many complex problems involve the interaction of subproblems, one approach is to divide the problem into subproblems and analyze each separately. One of the most difficult aspects of problem solving is timing. Sometimes it is wise to deliberately delay a decision, in case life changes occur or better options turn up. “Realoptions thinking puts a high value on flexibility,” says Glenn Daily, a fee-only life insurance planner in New York (Quinn, 2001). He suggests that you lean toward the choice that keeps more of your options open rather than choosing a single-option path. “Real options” is a catchall phrase referring to staying open, waiting and watching for the right opportunity, such as in making financial decisions—planning when to invest, buy insurance, pay off debt, and so forth. Perhaps your parents said to you, “leave your options open” or “there are other fish in the sea.” How do you tell the difference between lasting changes (moving in the right direction) and impulsive moves (instability)? Consider these guideposts of lasting change (or real options): • They are based on your values and goals, something you have thought about for a long time, bringing beliefs to life. • They are one option among many. • Embracing a challenge, the change should be challenging but worth the effort. There is the feeling of moving forward rather than fleeing or avoiding. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 154). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Henry David Thoreau said: I learned this, at least by my experiment: that if you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams, and endeavor to live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. You will put some things behind, you will pass an invisible boundary. Plan oF action Once the defining and analyzing phases are over, the individual designs a plan of action. Planning involves putting together the activities or steps to follow. The objective of planning is to produce systems or solutions that can provide satisfaction to the problem solver and other stakeholders in the problem. Michelle decides to get administrative experience so that the next time an opening occurs she will be qualified. Her subproblems include whether her current workplace can provide the necessary experience or whether she will have to get experience elsewhere. Perhaps her boss could be more explicit about the work experience she lacks. Michelle also turns to her colleagues, friends, and family for advice. After she considers their advice and her own perception of the problem, she forms a plan of action. Forming a plan makes her feel more in control of things. Resource management as a discipline encourages individuals to gather as much information as possible, objectively examine their problems and options, and form a plan of action that will help get them what they want. Motivation is a key part of problem solving. The motivation to solve the problem will depend on the extent of discrepancy between the desired and the actual state and the importance of the problem. Most people will not waste inordinate amounts of time on minor daily decisions such as what to wear or what to eat. Routine decisions such as these rarely are problems. They can become problems, however, if the involved person defines them as a problem or if the decision has a far-reaching impact. For example, what to wear to a job interview or what to serve at a banquet for 500 people may become major problems involving substantial amounts of money and a variety of alternative choices and consequences. Another essential part of problem solving is the search for information. The search leads to the opening up of alternative courses of action and evaluation. Looking within oneself for information for making decisions is called an internal search. Michelle did this first. After her boss told her she had been denied the promotion, she went back to her office, shut the door, and thought over the problem. An internal search is easier and more common than an external search, which involves gathering information from family, friends, other people, and the media. When Michelle asked others for advice, she engaged in an external search. As part of her external search, she watched a television news report and read magazine articles about how many people around the country were being laid off from their jobs owing to corporate downsizing or were turning to home-based work because they were tired of working for someone else or commuting. This information helped Michelle put in perspective her failure to receive a promotion. She reasoned that at least she had a job she liked, and she felt sure that given time she would get herself promoted through her effort. As in Michelle’s case, complex problem solving usually requires both internal and external searches. As the search proceeds, the problem becomes more narrowly defined and refined. At all times, decisions should be linked to the primary goal sought. If the goal is landing the best job possible, the job seeker continually looks for information, work experience, and contacts Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 155). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. leading to that goal. The desired end state is a solution. Michelle would be well advised to spend time getting the training she needs to get ahead, if not at her present job, at another organization. Uncertainty, Risk, and Success The problems associated with career advancement and job hunting are good examples of uncertainty and risk. In both cases, the individual searches for information to reduce the levels of uncertainty and risk. The more an employee or job seeker knows about a company, such as its policies and track record, the more confident he or she will be on the job or at job interviews. This is why the office grapevine or gossip is useful: Employees need to know what is going on and what is about to happen. Advance knowledge moderates individuals’ perceptions of uncertainty and risk and gives them time to adjust/strategize. The concepts of risk and uncertainty were introduced in Chapter 2 in the discussion of risk aversion theory. This theory says that rational people will try to reduce or avoid risk, and that risk is subjective because individuals define the level of risk and uncertainty they can handle. For example, a blind date is a risk. To reduce the amount of risk and uncertainty, the couple will try to find out as much as possible about each other before going out on the date. Uncertainty is the state or feeling of being in doubt. Risk is the possibility of pain, harm, or loss from a decision. Risk is subjective; that is, each person defines what risk is. A person weighing uncertainty and risk is judging the probability, or likelihood, of a good or bad outcome. Shopping, particularly catalog or Internet shopping, involves risk and the consideration of probable outcomes. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 156). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Success is the achievement of something desirable. It can be a specific such as milestones reached, money earned, and honors won, or it may be a desired state, such as happiness, contentment, fame, or prosperity, often expressed as a successful outcome. It may be the result of planned activity or, on rare occasions, chance. True success is defined by the individuals themselves, not by parents, friends, employers, society, or the media. The reason success is included in this discussion is that often success involves risk and uncertainty. Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 156). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Success involves being open to every possibility, realizing that one may experience success in unexpected ways, and being ready for success when it comes. Success is complex. “For example, success is presumed to be rewarding for all individuals, but for some this experience becomes closely linked to joy and pride in many achievement situations over time, whereas for others it does not become linked to joy and pride across achievement situations in this manner” (Elliot & Niesta, 2009, p. 62). Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 157). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. A town manager of a small community was very surprised when the town’s employees, from groundskeepers to the police, threw her an appreciation party. She was not near retirement and the party was not to denote a landmark year of service. It was strictly a “thanks for your effort” party—just to say we appreciate you and want you to know it. Before, during, and after that party, she felt very successful because she had found the right fit between her Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 157). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. talents and place of employment. She cares so much that on her morning jogging route she carries a plastic bag to pick up any trash she sees, and when she drives in and out of work in her pickup truck she throws trash in the back. The town is so small that everyone knows this; it is genuine effort on her part that has gone on for years. They know someone is watching out for them: Isn’t that what a town manager should do? An individual’s perception of uncertainty leads to the perception of risk. For example, John, a recent college graduate, may be uncertain whether to wear shorts and a T-shirt or a sports shirt and slacks to his first company picnic. He may also be uncertain about the weather on the day of the picnic. If he thinks it may rain, he might try to reduce his risk of getting wet by taking a hat and a jacket. Although deciding what to wear to a picnic is not a high-risk venture, John wants to dress appropriately so that he will fit in. In contrast, Sam, one of John’s coworkers, has not even given a thought to what he will wear to the picnic. His perception of risk in this problem situation is minimal; in fact, he does not even think of dressing for the picnic as a problem situation. At the picnic, Sam is the only person wearing shorts, and for the next two months, he must endure gentle ribbing about his “bony knees” and plaid shorts. Risk can be perceived as occurring before, during, or after a decision. tyPes oF Risks As discussed in Chapter 2, six types of risk affect decision making: functional or performance risk, financial risk, physical risk, psychological risk, social risk, and time risk. In the last example, John was seeking to reduce physical, psychological, financial, and social risks. If he worries about the best time to arrive at the picnic, then he would add time risk to his list of concerns. To reduce risk, people search for information or behave in ways that will decrease their uncertainty, such as asking others for advice or repeating behaviors that have worked for them in the past. Saving for retirement involves big risk: Increasingly, workers have to make decisions about saving and investing for retirement, and in uncertain economies, doing so is becoming more and more difficult. Many of life’s most important decisions concern the management of financial resources. at-Risk chilDRen Certainly, many individual, family, and societal problems are far more difficult than what to wear to an event. A disturbing societal problem is at-risk children. An estimated 7 million children, one in four of those aged 10–17 in the United States, engage in high-risk behaviors and are in “jeopardy of not growing into responsible adults who can effectively parent, work, or vote” (Dryfoos, 1991). According to Dryfoos, at-risk children are likely to be low achievers, drug abusers, or premature parents; they are also likely to be in trouble with the law. Many of these children live in high-stress family situations and have little parental support and supervision. Questions have been raised about what schools can do to help at-risk children (Katz, Dalton, & Giacquinta, 1994). A consensus is forming that school programs as they currently exist cannot solve the rapidly rising incidence of depression and stress, emerging from dysfunctional families. New types of school-based support programs Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 158). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. and curricula are suggested as a means for dealing with educational, health, and life issues of at-risk populations. In New York State, the Home and Career Skills (HCS) curriculum concentrates on developing the critical thinking skills of students so that they can make rational decisions and prepare to meet their responsibilities as consumers, home managers, wage earners, and members of families (Katz et al., 1994). Similar curricula are being used in other states under various names, including Life Management Skills. In addition, families, both nuclear and extended, community groups, and health organizations need to do all they can to reduce the number of at-risk children and give all children the best possible start in life. Helping children learn to make responsible decisions at an early age is a good starting point, to be followed by continued attention and support through the later years. For those in the helping professions, the emphasis when working with families should be on assisting them in making their own decisions and solving their own problems, not imposing the professional’s own decisions or solutions. Expressing gratitude to others, mentoring troubled youths, foster parenting, giving the gift of time, forgiving a wrong, and serving in the community are all positive steps toward reducing the number and severity of at-risk children. The GO Model: Visualization of a ProblemSolving Process Professors Holly Hunts and Ramona Marotz-Baden of Montana State University developed the GO model of problem solving because they believed that teaching problem-solving processes may well be one of the most important tasks of family economists/management specialists. GO stands for “goal-oriented.” The purpose of the GO model (see Figure 5.6) is twofold: 1. To further the theory about problem solving into a goaloriented model that can help students understand how individuals and families make choices that help them reach goals. 2. To bring about a new method for teaching students about problem solving and goaloriented strategies. Family systems theory and pedagogical strategies (different learning and teaching styles) serve as its base. Within the model, the situation requiring action is defined, alternatives are ranked, leading to the best alternative and then to a course of action and implementation that leads ultimately Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 159). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition. to results in Phase 5. Phase 6 provides information feedback that may be acceptable or unacceptable. The feedback provides information as the process starts all over again in Phase 1, thereby affecting future situations. “In a goal-oriented approach, problems are barriers to be overcome if goals are to be achieved. In other words, the emphasis in the goal-oriented approach is on increasing the probability of goal attainment by using problem solving to overcome these barriers” (Hunts & Marotz-Baden, 2004). Goldsmith, Elizabeth B.. Resource Management for Individuals and Families (5th Edition) (Page 160). Pearson HE, Inc.. Kindle Edition.
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