How to choose with PRISM

Part of Executive Coaching is about choices. Life is about seeing your options and making the best choice - this post is about a method I have developed to help myself and my clients, the PRISM method.
Photo by Nesster Flickr CC

Five components to choice

Mainly I'm involved in coaching business leaders, a situation where choices have to be based on sound economic grounds plus the all important motivational aspect. The PRISM method reflect that intention and the five are areas for analysis are Probability, Return on Investment, Immediacy, Sustainability and Motivation.

To evaluate the PRISM score, a combined ranking and scoring method has been used but it is also possible to multiply the probability as a percentage with the ROI to get a financial estimate. To rank, simply order that five areas in falling order of importance (by using "paired comparisons") then multiply the score for the highest ranking factor with 5, the second highest ranking factor with 4 and so on.

Each factor is scored using a five-level Likert scale, at times a seven-level scale could be used but it is more complicated and does not add much value to the process. A typical scale would look like this:

1. Strongly disagree


2. Disagree


3. Neither agree nor disagree


4. Agree


5. Strongly agree

Probability

To mention probability first does not mean that it is the most important factor, each and every coachee have their own priorities and therefore we always rank the factors the first thing we do. We all have different expectations on the level of adventure we want in our lives, and adventure is defined by a lower degree of probability for success.

Return of Investment

The ROI can be defined as financial return, but the investment can be in any other resource such as for example time. Many coaching clients see their discretionary free time as their scarcest resource and this is what we then use for evaluation of the ROI.

Immediacy

As in any investment choice, the time lapsed between the investment and the return is important and has to be evaluated. The faster the return the higher the score on the Likert scale.

Sustainability

A good investment is one that gives fruit during many years, exploiting a limited resource has a lower sustainability score than one that is renewable.

Motivation

Dan Pink talks about three components to motivation - Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. Together they make a good basis for scoring motivation. Another way of looking at motivation is using the SCARF method with its five components, maybe a bit more complicated but it includes the important discussion about "status".

How does this sound to you? Too complicated or a way of structuring the discussion about one of life's most challenging areas?