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Software is not a partner in the room
Hiring a consulting firm and opening a Decision Room solve different problems, though both begin with a hard question. A firm lends you experienced people for weeks or months. Argumont argues one decision in about ten minutes and keeps the record. Knowing which you need saves money and time on both sides.
What a good firm brings
The best consultants bring things no software can: years of seeing how similar decisions played out, relationships across an industry, the standing to tell a chief executive something unwelcome, and people who can stay to implement the result.
They also bring time. A firm can interview forty employees, visit plants, and sit with a team through a difficult reorganization. When the work is change rather than choice, that presence is the product.
Where an engagement struggles
Engagements are costly and slow to start, so they suit a few large questions a year, rarely the dozens of consequential choices in between. The reasoning often lives in a final presentation that shows the recommendation and little of the argument against it.
There is also a quiet pressure in any paid relationship. A firm that hopes for the next engagement has reason to frame its findings in ways the client will welcome.
What a Decision Room adds
Argumont gives each option its own Champion and sets the Challenger against the weakest reasoning, the Gray Wolf after hidden weaknesses, and the Inspector over every claim, marking it supported, partly supported, unverified or contradicted. The Judge issues a Verdict that says which option leads, what it rests on, and what would change it.
The Decision Passport keeps the question, options, evidence, Verdict, Human Decision and later the Outcome, so the argument outlives the meeting where it was made.
Using both well
The two work well together. A firm can frame a strategy question and gather data, and a Decision Room can test the firm's recommendation against the alternatives before the board signs. A firm can also use a room to show a client the strongest case against its own advice.
For many mid sized choices, a supplier, a new system, a second location, a room alone is enough. For a full transformation that needs people on the ground, hire the firm.
A plant decision, two kinds of help
A manufacturer considers closing one of three plants. A consulting firm spends ten weeks modeling capacity, visiting sites and interviewing managers, and recommends closing the oldest plant. Before the board votes, the operations director runs the question in a Decision Room with the firm's figures. The Challenger presses on the assumption that the remaining plants can absorb 30 percent more volume without overtime, which the record shows is unverified. The board approves the closure on the condition that a capacity test at the larger plant comes first.
Questions
- Can Argumont replace a consulting engagement?
- For many single choices, a room can give you a tested answer and a record without one. For work that needs people on site, deep industry contacts or help carrying out change, a firm is the right hire.
- Can a consultant use Argumont with a client?
- Yes. A consultant can run a room to test a recommendation against its alternatives, or to give a client a clear record of the reasoning behind the advice.
- Is the Verdict a recommendation I must follow?
- No. The Verdict is analysis. The Human Decision, what you actually choose, is recorded separately, and it is yours.
Further reading
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