Decisional Strengths Inventory 1.6
Interpretive Guide
Stages of decision making
D1: Detecting and interpreting change. This stage has two facets:
(a) your awareness of whether a significant change has taken place (e.g. a change in
clientele, resources available, competition, economic conditions) that may require a
response, and
(b) your accurate interpretation or understanding that change as either an opportunity,
a threat, or a nuisance that can be ignored.
D2: Generating potential responses. This stage involves identifying the full range of
available options for consideration.
D3: Selecting the best response. This stage entails choosing the best available option to
respond to change.
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D4: Implementing the chosen response. This stage involves executing the chosen option
and carrying it to conclusion.
D5: Learn from the results. This stage depends upon the ability to meaningfully measure
the results of a chosen action, and to understand and learn from them
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Sources of information
Intuition: A personal hunch or gut feeling about the situation, based more
on your own experiences or observations rather than any particular external
information.
Others perceptions: The perceptions of colleagues, staff, clients or others.
Local data: Objective information derived from internal organizational
program records and reports, or external data (eg, community- or industrylevel reports or market analyses)
External research: Systematic empirical research or descriptions of best
practices in similar settings.
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Interpreting your responses to the DSI
Item
Your
Meaning
Points to consider
score
1
Recent decisional success.
Use your recent decisionmaking outcome as a concrete example
to refer to in applying DSI results.
2-3
Positive and negative factors
Consider your perceptions of positive and negative factors
affecting the outcome of your
affecting a recent decision in light of your DSI scores:
recent decision.

How do your decisional strengths and weaknesses relate to
these factors?
Item
Your
Use of information at each decisional stage
score
4
Use of information at D1
For each of these questions, consider whether you tended to rely
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Use of information at D2
on only one or a few sources.
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Use of information at D3
If you notice a tendency to rely on a few types of information
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Use of information at D4
across the decision making process, consider bringing colleagues
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Use of information at D5
into the process whose use of information may complement your
approach.
4
Preferences in each decisional stage
refer to summary of stages
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Your preferences in stage D1a
High: Very sensitive to changes that may require a response.
Low: Tendency to miss indicators of either danger or opportunity.
Consider: Can you identify the last change you identified in a
timely way? What did you do with that insight? What was the
benefit-- or the opportunity cost-- for the organization?
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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Your preferences in stage D1b
High: Accurate interpretation of what a change signifies for your
organization.
Low: Inaccurate interpretation of what a change signifies for your
organization.
Consider any patterns that you find in your interpretation of
change over the course of many decisions.

Do you tend to over- or under-interpret change as a threat?

Do you tend to over- or under-interpret change as an
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opportunity?
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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11
Your preferences in stage D2
High: Perceived as being very capable of producing by yourself a
wide range of alternative responses to change.
Low: Perceived tendency to produce a small range of responses
to change, or responses you believe to be of insufficient quality.
Consider (high scorers) your beliefs about the value of this
stage—do you think it is important deliberately to consider a wide
range of alternatives, or do you generally go with your first
instinct?
Consider (low scorers) what factors may cause you to “censor”
yourself?
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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Your preferences in stage D3
High: Perceived as being very capable of identifying the best
choice
Low: Perceived tendency to choose a less effective response
Consider:
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
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self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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Your preferences in stage D4
High: Perceived as being very capable of following through on a
decision
Low: Perceived as having some difficulty in following through
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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Your preferences in stage D5
High: Perceived as very capable of objectively evaluating the
effectiveness of a decision
Low: Perceived as having some difficulty in objective evaluation
Consider: On what specific type of evidence do you base your
self-evaluation in this stage? How do you really know how
effective your actions in this stage are?
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Requested individualized
As our database grows, we will send you a free invitation to take
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report
DSI 2.0, including enhanced features, comparative feedback, and a
[email protected]
team-level report.
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