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The decision hedgehog for creative decision making

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Abstract

This article introduces a fundamental evolution of the group decision support model from the single “decision-spine” which focuses on a single proceduralized context, to provide comprehensive Group Communication and Decision Support (GDACS). We show how GDACS can support creative decision-making through collaborative authoring of outcomes, within a plethora of decision-spines, and also within the rhizome that constitutes the body-without-organs of the decision hedgehog in which these spines are rooted. We position decision making through the construction of narratives with the fundamental aim of enriching contextual knowledge for decision-making. Localized processes developing proceduralized contexts for constructing and exploring specific prescriptions for action (“pricking the real” at the tip of a decision spine) are rooted in this rhizome. We identify the variety of contexts that are involved in-group decision making and include a case study that provides a comprehensive account of process design for GDACS.

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Notes

  1. The lack of contrasts at these levels ensures, that, in Deleuze’s terminology, the creativity discourse generated through these stories is not territorialized and the ability to take lines of flight through the rhizome is not hindered (Jeans 2006).

  2. The actual implementation of these modules during the event is described in detail in multimedia (including streaming video) in the case study website: http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/dreams.

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Correspondence to Patrick Humphreys.

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This article is part of the “Handbook on Decision Support Systems” edited by Frada Burstein and Clyde W. Holsapple (2008) Springer.

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Humphreys, P., Jones, G. The decision hedgehog for creative decision making. ISeB 6, 117–136 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-007-0067-8

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