Option Solving Blog

Just imagine if we could possibly get both sides together in Washington to have an objective and mature discussion about “Eliminating the National Budget Deficit.” As an admittedly heavily biased person toward the use of Option Solving, it seems that I increasingly hear more and more references to Washington looking at its options on different issues. Whether that’s because my attention has been extra-sensitized to it because of my passion, or whether the idea is gaining more ground, is hard for me to discern.

Anyway, if I were the facilitator of the meeting about eliminating the national budget deficit, I would first encourage the participants to come up with an appropriate question. It would probably start with something like this: “What is our best national option for eliminating the budget deficit by 2020, considering…” Then I would encourage the participants to come up with potential key considerations. After we produce a fairly extensive list, we would, by means of confidential polling of the participants, get it down to some of the most significant ones, say: “…the retirement of baby boomers, humanely address entitlement programs, the necessity to stimulate robust economic growth, and our need to meet internal and external security threats?” (see Latest Example).

Now I would ask the meeting participants to frame the option limits with “bookends,” those Ying and Yang options that are least likely to be considered. After some raucous discussion, we might come up with: “Sustain Spending and Tax Cut Levels of 2010” at one end, and at the other “Cut Spending and Raise Taxes to those of 2000 Levels (Millennium economics: the last time we had a surplus).”

With these interesting option limits, which most people are likely to reject, hence putting their creative intuitions into high gear for better alternatives, they might start digging up some of the options given in the Latest Example. Ultimately, whatever they are, it would then be interesting for Congress to launch a national, binding referendum. By a national debate on the options and a referendum on the voters’ confidential, preferred option, we would have the ultimate wisdom of the crowd on which politicians could then put into action. With luck, we will then have made substantial progress on our debt issue by 2020. (Your views always welcome.)

Please refer to the Latest Example to view the overall picture of a potential solution. If you have an example of your own, please share it with this blogger, through the COMMENTS area.
Thanks Option Solving. (NOTE: Next posting in 2 weeks: “Using Option Solving to decide on ‘Career Choices?’” You’re your COMMENTS or go to peter @ileadershipsolutions.com to connect with the blogger.)

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