As Peter Drucker et al. (2001) advise, an executive -- or anyone empowered with decision making authority in an organization -- must "force [himself] to choose" instead of the worse action of defaulting to a status quo that has already proven itself inadequate. There are many traps that can lead a decision making body away from following these five steps. A command-and-control type hierarchy where the executive or the executive team is not open to input from the lower levels of the organization (such as was present in the infrastructure of Scholar Unlimited) can severely hamper nearly every step of the process. In addition, poorly defined desired outcomes and assumption-laden approaches to alternative solutions can mire the process in conflict and confusion. Keeping these decision making steps in mind, however, can make an organization aware of these possible flaws, and can significantly increase its chances of making and implementing sound business decisions.

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Schachter, D. (2008). "Learn to embrace opposition for improved decision making: opposition usually occurs when there are clearly divergent thoughts on a proposed action or idea that may be worth investigating." Information Outlook 12.10, 44-45.

Walton, T. (2010). Challenges in Intelligence Analysis: Lessons from 1300 BC to the Present. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.