Resources > Solving Real Life Problems

Addressing Real Life Problems with Decision Skills

Are you looking for examples to prove Decision Skills concepts and tools help address big,real-life problems? Here you'll find examples that are personal to DEF. These compelling videos show scenarios that actually happened.

Isabella's High School Decision Stories

How the Decision Quality Framework Helped Isabella Make Tough Choices

Isabella was a student in DEF's summer course several years ago. She shared with us some stories about how the concepts and tools she learned helped her navigate major decisions in high school and beyond.

Too Many Activities, Too Little Time

Changing High Schools

Using Tools to Make Tough Choices

Choosing a College

Getting What You Want from Your Parents

Ben's Decision Stories

How Ben Created Opportunities Using the Decision Quality Framework

Ben took DEF's summer course several years ago. He shared with us some stories about how the concepts and tools he learned helped him create opportunities in high school, college, and beyond.

Get Clarity about What You're Deciding

Challenging Comfort Zones

Own Choices to Feel Empowered

Dropping out of School to Start a Company

Rigs to Reefs

How Decision Analysis Resolved an Environmental Controversy

The Rigs to Reefs documentary captures how Decision Analysis can help resolve complex societal issues in a more effective manner than political gridlock. Jonah, a college student studying environmental science, discovers how Decision Analysis helped resolve the issue of what to do with old oil rigs off California’s coast. The project, recipient of the Decision Analysis Society’s Practice Award, demonstrates how Decision Analysis can bring together parties with significantly different points of view and objectives to find a ‘win-win’ solution. Read an Informs article with more detail.

Decision Analysis Applied to Covid-19 Pandemic

Ralph Keeney - Professor Emeritus of Decision Sciences, Duke University

Ralph Keeney: Decisions are our source of personal power and can be learned. Government policies, especially around COVID, should leverage the capacity of individuals to make decisions and manage risks for themselves. One-size-fits-all policies are likely doing more damage, destroying more value and killing more individuals long term than lives saved near term – it’s just not a part of the policy-maker’s frame or values.

Antwon J. Calhoun

How Decision Education Helped Antwon Make a Major Life Decision

A talented football player, facing academic challenges and opportunities for trouble, gets decision support in making a crucial decision to go to boarding school far from home. Looking back from his future, Antwon tells the story of how, at age 12, he made a life changing choice using Decision Quality.

Use the curriculum to discover concepts and tools Antwon used:

Explore Frames and Values and the tradeoffs between fun/excitement, education, and athletics.
Using Information and Reasoning, understand the probability associated with playing professional football and use a Decision Tree to evaluate alternatives and outcomes.

Andrew Brash's Climbing Decision

How Decision Analysis Saved a Man's Life on Mount Everest

Mountaineer Andrew Brash tells how, while at the top of Everest, he saved a life others thought lost. Avoiding “summit fever” he came back to summit another day. This real life experience in a compelling life and death situation provides insight into how decision traps (cognitive biases) are a part of all of our lives and also brings in ethical elements of decision making with personal sacrifice.

The Himalayan Decision

How Decision Education Helped a Group of Teenagers Get Unstuck

On their way to their goal, the town of Manang, these trekkers had to decide what to do next when their trail was washed away by flood waters. Life, limb, and reaching their goal were at stake for the 15 teenagers. Luckily, they had been trained at the Riekes Center in DEF's Decision Quality concepts and tools and were able to come to a good group decision with a great outcome.

Use the curriculum to discover concepts and tools the trekkers used.

Part One

Part Two