Different managers often have different ideas about how to proceed in a given situation. For example, see the Case Study "Too Many Issues to Consider." In most cases, managers must discuss the relative merits of each approach by combining historic data, individual experience and personal intuition.

For relatively simple situations, or issues where very few components interact over time, this is generally more appropriate. However, when decisions must be made for issues that affect multiple resources and operating areas in the company over time, it is very difficult for all of the affected parties to understand the impact any one decision may have across all areas, especially when the effects of these decisions are felt in the future.

An aerospace client told us that she "never realized how strong her functional blinders were." She added, "We get so into our own part of the business, we don't even realize how we affect other groups."

The ability to rigorously and objectively test any one of management’s hypotheses regarding future actions is critical. At the Institute for Strategic Clarity, we help management test the internal logic and the expected behavior, or performance, of their hypotheses in a protected environment.

• Simulating for the consistency of the internal logic of the hypothesis, i.e., testing if the idea make sense in the current structure, is one basic application of our system dynamics tools and methodologies.

• Another is to test the expected behavior this hypothesis will generate for the company into the future, or how will all of the different areas react to a given decision and what performance will result over time.