3 ms·

Two-by-two grids are almost ubiquitous in management circles. They go by many names: BC grids after Boston Consultancy Group, decision matrices, and so on. They

Two-by-two grids are almost ubiquitous in management circles. They go by many names: BC grids after Boston Consultancy Group, decision matrices, and so on. They crop up in Covey's 7 Habits. They're extremely useful for concisely articulating a tightly-defined situation and mapping items in order to make decisions. Their weakness is that they may oversimplify and lack nuance. I used to use important/urgent decision grids quite frequently at work. http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=709139&seqNum=7 http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=709139&seqNu...

kangman 9y ago
What about things that you don't like that would have a material benefit to you in the long run? A simple example being exercise. Decision matrices seem bound for immediate needs.
- mseebach 9y ago
  These models aren't meant to be algorithms you can mechanically life your life by, they are helpful in thinking (differently) about a number of things. Exercise is clearly an example of something that's important but non-urgent in Covey's model. The good-at/enjoys model is mostly applicable to things you've decided (or had decided for you) you have to do, somehow. Once you've decided that exercise is something you should do, thinking about it in terms of good-at/enjoys can be helpful in deciding how to go about it.
dlee2 9y ago
The Conjoined Triangles of Success. They're taught at Business schools haha.
koliber 9y ago
Yep. Simple models are great when you have no experience with something. You can grasp a simple model relatively quickly because... it's simple. As you use the model, you realize its weaknesses. You also gain knowledge about a domain. You learn how to perform with speed, agility, nuance, and expertise. the model has served its purpose. It is no longer useful, because your personal prowess outgrew it. However, it was useful in the beginning.

kangman 9y ago

What about things that you don't like that would have a material benefit to you in the long run? A simple example being exercise. Decision matrices seem bound for immediate needs.

mseebach 9y ago
These models aren't meant to be algorithms you can mechanically life your life by, they are helpful in thinking (differently) about a number of things. Exercise is clearly an example of something that's important but non-urgent in Covey's model. The good-at/enjoys model is mostly applicable to things you've decided (or had decided for you) you have to do, somehow. Once you've decided that exercise is something you should do, thinking about it in terms of good-at/enjoys can be helpful in deciding how to go about it.

dlee2 9y ago

The Conjoined Triangles of Success. They're taught at Business schools haha.

koliber 9y ago

Yep. Simple models are great when you have no experience with something. You can grasp a simple model relatively quickly because... it's simple. As you use the model, you realize its weaknesses. You also gain knowledge about a domain. You learn how to perform with speed, agility, nuance, and expertise. the model has served its purpose. It is no longer useful, because your personal prowess outgrew it. However, it was useful in the beginning.