{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/write-the-objectives-before-inventing-the-options",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0393",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Write the objectives before inventing the options",
  "summary": "The options you notice first should not get to define what you care about.",
  "kind": "protocol",
  "body": "List the outcomes the decision is meant to achieve before expanding or scoring alternatives. Separate what must be protected from what would be nice to improve. Then use each objective as a prompt for additional options. This can turn a narrow A-versus-B choice into a better decision opportunity.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not create a ceremonial objective list for trivial decisions; use this where the first visible alternatives may be constraining the problem."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-decision-analysis-calibration"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-58F1FE5B31D54046"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Decision-analysis literature treats value-focused thinking as a problem-structuring approach that starts from objectives rather than only from already visible alternatives.",
      "source_id": "RS-58F1FE5B31D54046",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Simple low-stakes choices may not justify formal objective elicitation.",
      "locator": "Value-focused thinking section"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A decision starts from two visible alternatives and the conversation is already becoming a comparison of them."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not create a ceremonial objective list for trivial decisions; use this where the first visible alternatives may be constraining the problem."
  ],
  "example": "Instead of comparing two microphones immediately, start with the actual objectives: intelligibility, desk fit, noise rejection, monitoring, cost and compatibility.",
  "check": "At least one useful option or design change appears that was not present in the original A-versus-B framing.",
  "steps": [
    "State the decision in neutral terms without naming a preferred option.",
    "List the outcomes that matter independently of the current alternatives.",
    "Mark hard constraints separately from objectives to improve.",
    "Generate at least one option from each important objective before comparing."
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-58F1FE5B31D54046",
      "title": "Fifty years of decision analysis in operational research: A review",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2025.05.023"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0393",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0395",
      "type": "use_before",
      "url": "/knowledge/draw-decisions-uncertainties-and-value-on-one-page"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-3EA4A5EF5790DD81",
      "title": "Model the decision before buying more certainty",
      "url": "/collections/model-the-decision-before-buying-more-certainty"
    }
  ]
}