Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction

by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn

The AREA process gets its name from the perspectives that it addresses: Absolute, Relative, Exploration and Exploitation, and Analysis. The first “A” stands for “Absolute,” which refers to primary, uninfluenced information from the sources at the center of your research and decision-making process. The “R” stands for “Relative,” and refers to the perspectives of outsiders around your research subject. It is secondary information, or information that has been filtered through sources connected to your subject. The “E” stands for “Exploration” and “Exploitation,” and they are the twin engines of creativity—one is about expanding your research breadth and the other is about depth. Exploration asks you to listen to other peoples’ perspectives by developing sources and interviewing. Exploitation asks you to focus inward, on you as the decision-maker, to examine how you process information, examining and challenging your own assumptions and judgment. The second “A” stands for “Analysis,” and synthesizes all of these perspectives, processing and interpreting the information you’ve collected. Each of these steps will be explained in detail in the chapters that follow. Together the “A” and the “R” provide you with the tools necessary to create a framework for gathering and evaluating information. The latter part of the AREA Method, the “E” and the “A,” provide detailed examination tools gleaned from experts in other fields such as investigative journalism, intelligence gathering, p...