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Plus Minus Implications (PMI) is valuable in helping you to weigh up the pros and cons of a decision. It can be especially useful in situations where you are unsure if you should make a decision at all.
Task
- Design a three-column table, writing ‘plus’, ‘minus’, ‘implications’ as the column headings.
- In the column under ‘plus’, write down all the benefits and positive results you believe will be gained by taking the action.
- In the column under ‘minus’, list everything negative that you feel will happen as a result of taking action.
- In the final column, enter the possible implications and outcomes of taking the action, whether positive or negative.
You may find after having done this that one column is filled with much more than the other and that the Implications column lends further support to this. If this is the case, then your decision will most probably be an easy one.
If, however, a decision is not immediately obvious, think about each of the points you have listed and give a positive or negative value to each reflecting the strength of its ‘plus’ or ‘minus’ status. For example, you may have listed a positive benefit as ‘meeting new friends’ and assigned this a positive value of +5 because it is really important to you. As a negative point, you may have entered ‘having to sell your house’ and assigned this a negative value of –7 because it would be a major upheaval and outweighs the benefits of ‘meeting new friends’.
After having done this, add up the score. A high positive score suggests that action should be taken and a high negative score that it should be avoided.
Example
A young graduate is deciding which job offer to accept. Her question is ‘Should I opt for the large organization?’
She designs the following PMI table:
Plus
Minus
Implications
Internationally recognized brand (+1)
Ruthless trading tactics
(-2)
Meet more people (+2)
Great benefits (+3)
Formal and stuffy atmosphere (-4)
Progress faster (+3)
City center location (+4)
Ex-boyfriend works in same office (-4)
Less recognition (-5)
Graduate development program (+5)
Dull job (-4)
Be able to buy new apartment (+3)
Great salary (+5)
+18
-14
+3
She scores the table 18 (plus) – 14 (minus) +3 (implications) = +7
For the graduate, the lure of the city, a great salary and the chance to progress outweighs the negative trading practices and stuffy atmosphere. It seems as though she should take the job with the large company.
