The Decision Making Matrix

Since I am in the throes of a major decision, I would like to offer a practical lifeskill that has served me well, but also serves as a great activity for students. In a language class, it works as a top-notch “third-generation task”- that is, a learning task that involves communication in the target language, higher-order thinking skills and personal development (Nunan 2005: 135). The matrix can be used with students in pairs, groups or pyramids, on a prescribed or self-selected topic. Much of the language value lies in the actual process of negotiating meaning while compiling and weighting criteria for decision-making. Take a look how it works.


Making a major life decision (a new job, a home, a pet, a spouse etc.) can be extremely traumatic for anyone as notoriously fickle as me. (I do know I am fickle enough not even to consider a spouse- or even a pet!- in the first place, incidentally.) In my dazed and confused student days, one professor of logic kindly introduced me to the Decision-Making Matrix. It is a foolproof formula for making a rational decision with your head- and you can even build in a vote for your heart. Observe.


Allow me to demonstrate with the major life decision that has been haunting me of late: do I stay in Oman or do I leave for greener (but less lucrative) pastures? The procedure is to draw up a column for each option and a row for each criterion. (In class, students will negotiate these.) To make this even more precise, the criteria can be weighted. Then rate each option according to the criteria scores. In my matrix below, for example, I have rated Oman 20 out of a possible 20 for income, but 0 out of a possible 10 for social and cultural life. India (my wildcard option) is almost the opposite.

Option 1: Oman Option 2: Taiwan Option 3: SAfrica Option 4: Wildcard - India
Income (20) 20 15 10 5
Stability, Career (20) 15 10 10 5
Lifestyle, Time,
Holidays,
Environment(20) 10 10 15 20
Studies (20) 15 18 15 20
Social, Cultural (10) 0 5 10 10
Happiness (10) 2 5 7 10
Total % 62 63 67 70

To make sure that reason doesn’t outweigh emotion, I add an emotional criterion, in this case, happiness. (Since I have already provided for lifestyle, social, cultural and career factors, which already make me happy, I am only weighting happiness at 10.) Before adding up the totals, I also ask myself which option I really wish for. If the instinct is strong enough, it may not even be necessary to do the math! This is a trick I learnt from a dear friend who was always willing to flip a coin, but before unveiling the “heads or tails” would always ask; “What would you like it to be?” We seldom found out how the coin had really landed, following that gut feeling instead.


My decision-making matrix reveals some home truths about my motivations, perceptions and priorities (which appear to be utterly twisted). Rather than discuss them, I hope this will demonstrate how much discussion value students can get out of such an activity.


Best of all, there is always the option of not making a decision. If a change is as good as a holiday, considering your options is almost as good as relocating… and it’s completely risk-free.


Reference: Nunan, D. 2005. Task-Based Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.