Making better decisions — a tutorial

This tutorial is designed to introduce you to the possibility and potential of better ways of making decisions. You will learn:

• How to assess where you are and where you would like to be in terms of basic patterns and functions -- ecological, social, and economic -- whether you are most concerned with your backyard, family, neighborhood, community, region, or nation.
• How to frame your decisions in terms of personal goals, shared goals, and ecological, social, and economic functions.
• How to create an environment in which people are likely to address and resolve conflicts.
• How to monitor your progress toward these goals -- ecologically, socially, and economically.

Tutorial index

1. New graphic intro (2 megabytes, pdf format). To download, right click on link and choose Save Target As (Ctrl click on Mac).

2. Introduction (10 short pages)

3. Ecosystem function (5 pages)

4. Economics (5 short pages)

Acknowledgments

These tutorials are primarily based on the work of Eugene Odum, Allan Savory, Sam Bingham, and Bob Chadwick.

Further reading

Odum, Eugene. Fundamentals of Ecology. Saunders, 1953.

Savory, Allan. Holistic Management: A new framework for decision making. Island Press, 1999.

Bingham, Sam. The Last Ranch: A Colorado Community and the Coming Desert. Pantheon, 1997.

Chadwick, Bob. Beyond Conflict to Consensus. (available for free download)

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Changelog

Posted by Peter Donovan. Please contact us with any suggestions or corrections.

Posted 31 October 2004
URL: managingwholes.com/learn/index.htm