Thresholds in Delaware County

3. Develop The Possibilities

The third step in the decision-making process is to develop all the possibilities for reaching your goal. Since decision-making involves choosing among alternatives, you need to know what your options are before you can select your choice. At this stage, don’t eliminate any possibilities!

The symbol we use for developing the possibilities is a wheel. The situation is represented by the circle, the goal is the target, and the possibilities are the spokes.

Techniques for helping clients develop a list of possible ways to reach a goal employ the ABC acronym.

A...Accumulate information. Gather facts from friends, books, tapes libraries, agencies, schools, etc.

B....Brainstorm. List everything that comes to mind. Don't make any judgments. Just generate items, alone or with the help of others.

C....Consider or reflect on unique approaches and new combinations...Sleep on it. Take it up again.

One of the teaching aids used to help clients "think outside the box," while developing possibilities is the 9-dot, 4 line puzzle.

ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER, NOT THE PC SCREEN.

Try to connect all 9 dots with only 4 straight lines, without lifting your pencil from the page! Answer at bottom of this web page.

There are, however, certain blocks that hinder our search for possibilities. The are the JAM blocks

Jumping to conclusions, reacting with out thought.

Again and again...doing the same thing the same old way

Myths...Stories based on false beliefs, self-doubt and intolerance.

Step Four

Answer down below.

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Send mail to Decision@ThresholdsDelco.org with questions or comments about this web site.

Here's the puzzle solution

It's an old school room challenge. But it still works as an eye opener now and then.