To make a wise decision, you need to know:

  1. The need and purpose of the decision
  2. The alternatives
  3. What are the criteria that govern
  4. Which stakeholders are affected

When it comes to prioritizing projects, it's as much about prioritizing removing projects. Avoiding a decision is also a decision, but it is often not so good. When decisions are taken relevant information is needed. However, based on currently available information, different people make different conclusions due to different understanding based on experience, background, education, etc.

When the amount of information is too large there is a risk for rationalization and simplification. Intuition or gut feeling can have a big impact but can be difficult to communicate to others and thus get consensus. In order to make rational decisions in complex decision situations, it is about simplifying the decision-making process. Instead of trying to take in all at once, break down decisions into manageable components, allowing the entire group to decide and then compile the substrate so that consensus can be reached.

When decisions are made in group, it's not always the right decision is made. Both formal and informal decision makers can control the decision in the wrong direction without being aware of it. To get the right decisions the priority work need to be done individually and then reviewed in group. In that way you get all point of views and decision becomes more transparent.

There are many example and studies showing that "When everyone thinks alike, nobody thinks very much." When one listen to more people with different opinions, the decision is often better and easier to implement in the organization.