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Introduction

Strategic decision-making is inherently creative and future-oriented, demanding more than rational and analytical skills. Most frameworks and support systems, however, rely heavily on extending analytical capabilities, leaving decision-makers to seek or develop additional tools and processes on their own to varying degrees of success. This often involves relying on familiar methods to avoid risk or investing significant effort in crafting new bespoke frameworks. SEMINAL addresses this challenge by focusing on ‘decision-making style’ and its theories in the fields of psychology and decision science, offering a thoughtful approach to support diverse cognitive processes in strategic thinking.

Challenges

"There is a need to rebuild the culture, capability, and capacity of strategic planning," according to the findings of the recent RTPI study on Strategic Planning in England. Strategic planning, even in its most efficient form, is widely regarded as a complex and resource-intensive process.

Efforts to support these processes primarily rely on technological interventions that make data, analytical tools, and visualization solutions more affordable and accessible. The assumption is that more standardized and analytical approaches to future thinking would lead to better outcomes.

These efforts, however, overlook the hidden costs associated with dismissing the more intuitive and creative aspects of strategic thinking. This includes evidence-seeking, prioritization and quality check processes. Even more concerning are the unaddressed costs of highly objectified and standardized processes, including diminished confidence, the erosion of creative agency, and a lack of trust in the evidence or support provided.

Solutions

In collaboration with cognitive psychologists specializing in collective intelligence, we created a comprehensive toolkit to enhance the creative agency of strategic decision-makers. This toolkit translates theoretical concepts of agency and style from psychology into practical recommendations for urban planning.

The toolkit includes:
- An open-access report exploring creativity in strategic thinking and its implications for designing decision support systems.
- Open-access tests and games to help planners identify and understand their decision-making styles.
- A curated, open-access directory of books, academic studies, and policy documents on creative decision-making across various disciplines.
- A paid feature offering bespoke recommendations on processes and tools tailored to specific styles and challenges.

Recognizing that not all decision-makers are rational problem-solvers by nature or training, we propose that understanding individual decision-making styles and receiving tailored support based on those styles can significantly reduce the economic and emotional costs of addressing strategic challenges.

Results

The toolkit is designed as part of an experimental research project. It is tested and designed with direct feedback from strategic urban planners on its features. However, it has not been applied to a real strategic decision-making process to report evidence on the return on investment.

Most features of the toolkit are mostly accessible online at no cost and can be used as an educational resource in organizations. The paid feature requires more consideration and involvement from our team and is delivered depending on specific cases.

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