In a paper that looks at software development from a new perspective, the authors ask us to consider the central role that decision-making plays in software projects. Teams are aware of the key decisions made in a project, but many will not have considered that decision-making is the pervasive thought process that affects even the smallest detail of a project's utcome. Given that teams that consistently make good decisions are likely to succeed, while teams that make bad decisions are likely to fail, the paper considers the factors that affect the ability of the team to make effective decisions. Teams wanting to improve their performance need to understand the different elements that lead to bad decisions and consider ways of tuning their practices to optimize their decision-making capabilities. To assist teams who are interested in improving their capabilities, an assessment tool is provided that allows teams to explore the issues that could prevent from them making effective decisions. By understanding the factors that drive effective decision making and the relationship between those elements, project teams will be better able to identify weaknesses in their decision making capabilities and address those weaknesses before the project is compromised by a set of bad decisions.
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