The future state of decision making and the value, stages, and philosophy of BDBO

The future state of decision making needs to address the why, what, when, how and who of decision making, firstly by imagining:

·         Imagine a vision of “Resilient relationships and good decision making enabling resilient suburbs, organisations, districts and regions” (The Why)

·         Imagine a business case that describes a compelling vision (strategic case), describes the best value option to achieve the vision, (economic case), and describes how the preferred option can be procured well (commercial case), is affordable (financial case) and will be delivered well (management case). (The What)

·         Imagine staged decision making…Starts with a vision (Policy) comprising Programmes (to each achieve an outcome) for a “start-up” decision. Then for project/s (for service improvement) an “initiate” decision to formally approach the market.  Then for project/s an “implement” decision to procure and proceed to implementation. (The When)

·         Imagine decision makers setting a vision, outcome or service improvement needed being confident there is the capability to think through the development of the business cases in a holistic, systematic  and relational way (The How)

·         Imagine clear communication of the vision, outcome or service improvement from decision makers who lead, steward, and  coordinate with courage. Imagine commitment and capability of those involved in the “How” to be open and transparent, navigating ambiguity with courage, collaborating with and learning from others, and intentionally communicating etc.(the principles). Imagine clear public reporting and accountability that the investment will achieve benefits because of improving services, improving outcomes or achieving the vision  (The Who)

WE need to think in a joined-up way to think medium-to-long-term how to achieve  vision for an organization, a district, region and country:

WE need a decision system that enables government to participate with the public who are part of a resilient community to achieve vision by thinking together using their different strengths, resulting in measurable benefits that will reduce demand on government criminal justice, benefits and mental health, and eliminate systemic poverty. Government needs to consider its role in building resilient communities so those communities can in turn speak with their voices into decision making. That approach needs to be holistic, systematic, and relational. WE need to courageously and transparently navigate the ambiguity of difficult conversations by intentionally leaning in to listen and learn from each other, to build trust and confidence, to set a vision and identify the best value, affordable and achievable way to achieve that vision.

Each of the phases has a decision stage:

·         Think phase: Start-up decision to establish the portfolio and decide the right programmes

·         Plan Phase: Initiate decision on the right projects in the programmes to formally engage the market and then the implement decision to commence the projects

·         Do phase: Readiness decision to move the project to business as usual  

·         Review phase: Evaluation decision whether the projects were delivered on time, within budget and realised the expected benefits.

Each of the decision stages need to align with the relevant policy and budget process decisions.

In the Think phase The BDBO Portfolio Business Case uses the five-case model establish the portfolio and decide the right programmes

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BDBO addresses the why, what, when, how and who of decision making in the think phase.   The 5 BDBO stages carefully set out the importance of engaging the right people in the right way (who) to think together to develop a business case (what) to inform a startup decision (when) that gives confidence the vision can be achieved (why).

1.       Governance and alignment, for decision makers to agree to think in a holistic, systematic and relational way to achieve a vision, how to measure the current state, the internal capability available and what needs to be procured, those to attend the workshops and the principles  to be applied during the workshops and how to communicate with stakeholders.

2.       Capability Development: a brief Overview session for decision makers, an Awareness session for those attending the workshops, and a Knowledge session for the team to prepare for the workshops.

3.       Portfolio development and identification: Workshops to develop the Strategic and Economic cases  including how best to consolidate the initiatives.

4.       Portfolio creation and prioritization. Confirm the portfolio options  and prioritise through 3 phases to Survive, then Revive, and then Thrive.

5.       Plan and finalise: For the preferred option develop an outline Commercial Case (the procurement approaches based on early market research), an outline Financial Case and an outline Management Case

[1] The five cases form the Better Business Cases framework: strategic case (is there a need for investment?), economic case (does the investment offer value for money?), commercial case (is the investment viable?), financial case (is the investment affordable?), and the management case (is the investment achievable?): The Treasury, Better Business Cases, webpage, last updated 11 July 2025.