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This information is intended to convey the underlying concepts for Reclamation's decision processes. It is not mandatory.
See the Reclamation Manual for official Reclamation-wide requirements.

Reclamation's Decision Process Guide

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go through page Democracy / Budgeting / Priority / Common ground / Teamwork / Focus / Diversity / Detail / Wild options / Evaluate / Test ideas / Decisions / Plan / Explain / Follow up / Go On


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navigate in the page--How to work with other groups

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democratic tangles
How democracy works. /Group 1 elects person A. Person A makes changes. /Group 2 elects person B. Person B changes these changes. /Group 3 objects and elects person C. Replay nonstop.


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navigate in the page--Don't go crazy over budgets

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budget comic
Budgeting brings out the best in everyone.


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navigate in the page--Work with many priorities

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All this talk about government being so hard because of tradeoffs and priorities is a bunch of hooey. / Just giveme wha tI want and I'll be satisfied.


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navigate in the page--Find common ground

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compromise bam
Scuffle in the meeting room/ Maybe looking at the common ground is not so bad after all.


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navigate in the page--Go in the same directions

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teamwork and teenagers
Teamwork is crucial to our success./Unless we work together, we can't do anything./ Imagine what would happen if your legs and arms went in different directions?/ My kids would call it dancing.


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navigate in the page--Focus on the right problem

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Fix up problems
. . . so that's how I see things./ Ed, thanks for sharing your problems with us./ I am sure we all hope that you and Sally can fix things up. /But that is not the kind of problem that our team is set up to solve.


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navigate in the page--Look at many needs and resources

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diversity
Solutions require analyzing a widee range of needs and resources. / It is like a salad. All the different ingredients make the salad special./ Uh, I get it! No wonder no one likes it! / Solutions are a health food thing!


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navigate in the page--Get the right level of detail

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bureaucratic reporting
Dear insurance company / To help you with this claim, here is a brief summary. I was born July 12th 1967 at 2:39 p.m. / I was discharged at 9:34 that night. I had colic when I was a baby......


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navigate in the page--Get creative

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get wild solutions
My heating bills are horrible./ Too bad. Mine are all very low. / What do you use? -- Hot air/ I stored it up from last summer.


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navigate in the page--Evaluate alternatives consistently

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evaluation process
We have a very scientific way to evaluate all alternatives:

First, we get all the information. / Then, we analyze data very carefully. / Finally, our state-of the art process gives us the right answer. / Eeenie, Meenie, Mynie, Moe.


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navigate in the page--Test ideas in the real world

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flying on Capitol Hill and beyond
What do you do with all the ideas I send down here? / We run them through our elaborative testing cycle. / We want to see if they have a chance of flying in the real world.


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navigate in the page--Decisionmakers influence everyone

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Gee, I wonder what this looks like in green. / The boss likes green. / Use green/ The Big Boss loves green. / Only green! / Why is everything green??


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navigate in the page--Plan before you implement

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plan it out
Who needs to prepare? Driving a forklift is dead easy. / Ok, they loaded the pallet, now I just lower the forks. / Whoops. / Maybe I should have backed up first!


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navigate in the page--Explain in terms people can understand.

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complicated translations
So what did you do / Turned the interface into a real time electronic access with a GUI..../What does that mean in English?/ Click on the happy face to start.


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navigate in the page--Follow Up

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What's important
Now that we have made it through the process and the solution / What have we learned about how to make decisions? / Yes, Dick, What did you learn? / That participation and jelly donuts aren't such a waste of time.


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navigate in the page--Go On

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Please contact Rick Vinton (303) 445-2738 with questions or comments on this material.