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Wonderful solutions and habitual domains for challenging problems in changeable spaces : from theoretical framework to applications
Larbani M., Yu P., Springer International Publishing, New York, NY, 2016. 275 pp. Type: Book
Date Reviewed: May 26 2017

The lengthy, lilting title forecasts the creativity and unconventionality of a book that seeks to revolutionize decision making by expanding the solution space to take into account that some quantitative factors change as the problem is addressed and to recognize that some solutions are arrived at by transcending the bounds of the quantitative to include psychological elements and dynamic constraints. The book seeks to develop a method and a mathematical notation that can treat real-world decision making expansively rather than reductively.

The book divides into five conceptual sections. It opens with a chapter that describes traditional models of decision making and displays their limitations that derive from their assumptions of rationality and complete knowledge of a problem, their neglect of human psychology, and their lack of inclusion of human creativity, to cite the main objections. The authors illustrate those limitations with examples, and they outline a new, dynamic paradigm. The authors present nine problems, ranging from the Cuban Missile Crisis to designing multilingual keyboards, that are not solvable through traditional, static measures. The solutions, however, are not presented until several chapters later in the book. This technique creates tension and expectation and moves the reader along through dense technical material.

As a bridge between the opening and the rest of the book, there is a chapter on the decision-making process. It presents ten decision parameters in the context of specific problems that are nontrivial and not readily represented with traditional mathematical models. The strength of the approach is to recognize the difficulties inherent in a problem where the parameters vary as the problem presents itself. These are challenging, not routine problems, and they require a new set of approaches to do them justice.

Following the bridge chapter are four chapters (the third conceptual section) that form the substantive heart of the book. They detail the main concepts of decision making in changeable spaces, wonderful solutions, and competence set analysis and include a mathematical notation to describe the solutions. The proposed paradigm incorporates psychology and creativity, recognizes that the parameters of many real-world problems are both uncertain and dynamic, and invites restructuring of those parameters. A wonderful solution is not defined quantitatively but emotionally: it makes the decision makers relieved, relaxed, and happy. This indicates the out-of-the-box nature of the proposed paradigm.

One key concept is that of habitual domain, which is defined as a cognitive environment that includes ideas and actions based on knowledge and experience. It is both quantitative and emotional, so it incorporates and transcends traditional rationalistic approaches to decision making. It expands the solution space. For example, goal functions include social approval, gratification, and cognitive consistency. The philosophical underpinnings of the book become explicit in the discussion of principles of deep knowledge needed for the expansion of the habitual domain. Some of these are everyone is a priceless entity, every task is part of one’s life mission, and be appreciative and grateful.

The fourth section consists of two chapters presenting case studies on solving real-world problems in changeable spaces that illustrate the power of the approach and that help develop an understanding of the approach, including the distinction between wonderful and acceptable solutions. One chapter is devoted to management and economic problems, and the other to social, geopolitical, and discovery problems. The latter were introduced in the first chapter. In each case, the problems are multilayered and invite solutions that go beyond the calculation of cost-benefit analysis and payoff matrices. The use of mathematical notation underscores that the method has an objective, quantifiable basis. Optimization in changeable spaces, which have parameters of unknown shapes and dimensions as well as psychological components, comprises both a formal representation of the problem and the dynamic development of a solution.

Two of the case studies illustrate the breadth of the problems addressed. One discusses how the 1984 Summer Olympics avoided the fiscal deficits of earlier Olympiads by privatizing much of the operation. The solution has a quantitative effect, but it derives not from numbers but from thinking beyond the numbers. Another entailed dispersing an unruly crowd without using violence. The authors depict that problem using mathematical notation, but the solution is outside mathematics.

The book concludes with a brief chapter on future applications to management, games, economics, artificial intelligence, and scientific research that broadens the problem sets, which stress social, business, and interpersonal issues, treated in the earlier parts of the book.

The book serves as a corrective to purely quantitative approaches to decision making and problem solving, and it will interest both those studying decision making in the abstract and those, such as business leaders and engineers, who make decisions every day. The book will enable both groups to understand better the complexities of decision making and to expand their problem-solving skill sets.

Reviewer:  Marlin Thomas Review #: CR145303 (1708-0506)
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