A Five-Step Approach for Better Environmental Decisions

A structured approach to decision making and communication is essential to navigate environmental decisions effectively. The Decision Quality Process and the FINESSE Fishbone Diagram are two essential steps.

All decisions require an allocation of resources. When it comes to environmental decisions, how we allocate time, money, and behaviors directly impacts the quality of life and those around us. Environmental decision making presents unique challenges due to its complexity, long timelines, and multiple stakeholders. A structured approach to decision making and communication is essential to navigate these challenges effectively.

Establishing Standards Complicates Environmental Decisions

Most organizations and individuals prioritize compliance with government-established standards. However, personal and corporate behavior often exceeds these minimums.

Politics plays a significant role in environmental decision making. Given the long timelines and inherent uncertainties, political processes influence regulations, corporate strategies, and social behavior. Understanding these influences is key to effective communication and action.

What Makes Environmental Decisions Different?

Environmental decision making differs from other types of decision making due to several key factors.

A. Complexity

Environmental issues involve multiple interconnected components, and their impacts may not be fully understood for decades.

B. Uncertainty

Many decisions involve chemical or ecological processes with limited real-world data.

C. Interconnectedness

Solutions that benefit one area (e.g., human health) may have unintended consequences elsewhere (e.g., biodiversity loss).

D. Detectability

Emerging pollutants or new measurement techniques can challenge existing regulations and decision-making frameworks.

E. Multiple Stakeholders

Decisions involve governments, businesses, scientists, and communities with diverse and often conflicting interests.

F. Time Horizon

Long-term effects make consensus difficult and increase uncertainty in projections.

G. Ethics

Different ethical frameworks influence decision making, from duty-based approaches to outcome-driven strategies.

H. Motives

Some stakeholders use environmental issues to advance political or economic goals beyond environmental protection.

I. Limited Resources

Funding constraints mean prioritization is necessary, requiring strategic allocation of resources.

A Five-Step Approach for Better Environmental Decisions

1. Establish a Decision Quality Process

Using a structured decision-making framework ensures clarity and effectiveness. One proven approach is Carl Spetzler’s Elements of Decision Quality, which includes:

• Appropriate Frame – Defining the problem correctly

• Creative, Doable Alternatives – Considering multiple solutions

• Meaningful, Reliable Information – Gathering the best available data

• Clear Values and Tradeoffs – Weighing competing priorities

• Logically Correct Reasoning – Ensuring rational analysis

• Commitment to Action – Ensuring decisions lead to implementation

Selecting a robust decision-making framework enhances transparency and consistency in complex environmental choices.

2. Use a Formal Communication Framework

Effective communication is essential for gaining stakeholder support and reducing conflict.

The FINESSE approach provides a structured method to communicate complex environmental decisions:

• Facilitate – Encourage collaboration and participation

• Illustrate – Use visuals and storytelling to clarify concepts

• Noise Reduction – Simplify messages and remove distractions

• Empathy – Acknowledge diverse perspectives and concerns

• Structure – Organize communication for clarity and impact

• Synergy – Align messages with broader goals

• Ethics – Maintain honesty and integrity in messaging

  
  

Any communications approach should include a third-party review of the presentation before making it to decision makers. An after-action review should be included as well.

3. Seek Insights Beyond the Obvious Before Making Decisions

Media, politics, and personal biases often shape environmental issues. Decision makers should actively seek diverse perspectives and data sources to challenge assumptions and improve decision quality.

The tough questions will be asked at some point in the process.

Engaging in decision making at various levels, ranging from local planning boards, public comment opportunities, and industry associations, ensures diverse voices are heard and effectively influence policy.

4. Evaluate Past Decisions Before Making New Decisions

Reflection and after-action reviews help refine future decisions. Identifying what worked and what didn't strengthen environmental strategies over time. The Decision Quality Process and the FINESSE Fishbone Diagram provide a structured foundation for evaluating past decisions.

5. Repeat the Process at Every Stage

Remember, environmental decision making is a long game. Over time, people and their roles in the process change, as well as scientific and political influences. Don't shortcut the first four steps, especially the Decision Quality Process and the FINESSE Fishbone Diagram.

Applying 5 Steps for Better Environmental Decisions

Environmental decision making presents unique challenges due to its complexity, long timelines, and multiple stakeholders. A structured approach to decision making and communication is essential to navigate these challenges effectively. Decision quality frameworks and communication approaches like FINESSE Fishbone Diagram create a pathway for clearer, more actionable environmental solutions.

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Portions of this article were published on Substack in the articles "Why Environmental Decision Making Is Difficult“(May 2023) and “What Are the Secrets for Communicating Big Environmental Decisions?” (February 2025).

See also "Effective Communication: How to Improve When Environmental Disasters Strike Our Communities." https://www.jdsolomonsolutions.com/post/effective-communication-how-to-improve-when-environmental-disasters-strike-our-communities (June 26, 2023).

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JD Solomon Inc. provides solutions for program development, asset management, and facilitation at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Visit our Environmental page for more information.

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JD Solomon is the author of Communicating Reliability, Risk & Resiliency to Decision Makers: How to Get Your Boss’s Boss to Understand and Facilitating with FINESSE: A Guide to Successful Business Solutions.

Seven Common Ethical Issues for Water Utilities

Procurement and Employment top the list of ethical issues for water utilities and their major capital improvement programs.

Whether it's for the enterprise or a major infrastructure program, there are a handful of ethical issues that are common to all water utilities. These are the issues that can get you fired and often result in court action. At best, encountering these ethical issues with a pre-planned approach will stagnate your career. There are three key solutions provided at the end of the article.

The Top Seven Ethical Issues for Water Utilities

1 - Procurement

Most water utilities have procurement standards or ordinances; however, many are outdated or do not incorporate the needs of big programs. In the case of alternative project delivery, the run-and-gun pace often sets up ethical dilemmas. In all cases, staff preferences combined with the quantity and size of water utility purchases lead to decision-making conflicts.

2 - Employment

Hiring and promotions are just as vulnerable to bias as vendor selection. Utility leaders naturally want to work with people they trust, but this preference must never override fair hiring practices. The perception of favoritism can erode morale and public confidence. A transparent recruitment process with clear job requirements and scoring systems helps ensure decisions are merit-based.

3 - Involvement with Staff

Too much involvement with staff is a trap many board members fall into. The ethical dilemma relates to the decision-making responsibility at the policy level versus the decision-making experience at the operational level. Board members and staff need to work as a team while staying in their designated lanes. The art of communicating openly while honoring the boundaries between policy leadership and operational control is challenging in most organizations.

4 - Committees

Committees, whether part of a utility board or a major program oversight team, are meant to study issues in detail and make recommendations. Ethical concerns arise when committees overstep their authority, make binding decisions without proper approval, or fail to maintain transparency in their deliberations. A well-defined charter, open meeting practices, and clear reporting lines can help, but are usually not enough.

5 - Donations and Community Engagement

Water utilities are integral parts of their communities and are asked to sponsor events, support nonprofits, or contribute resources. Capital infrastructure programs usually require extra support in the community based on their scope and timelines. It’s easy to blur the lines when requests come from influential vendors, political figures, or community activists.

6 - Social Media

Social media is a minefield for ethical missteps. Staff or board members posting personal opinions may inadvertently misrepresent the utility, release sensitive information, or damage public trust. Even “liking” or sharing certain posts can be perceived as endorsing a position.

7 - Text Messaging and Informal Communication

Quick, informal communications—texts, instant messages, and personal email—are convenient but can raise transparency and records-retention issues. Using texts for decision making or sensitive topics can bypass proper documentation and public oversight. In most U.S. states, text messages are considered “discoverable” in legal proceedings as well as under the freedom of information statutes.

Three Solutions to the Top Seven Ethical Issues

In our training and workshops, we discuss three things that can be used to avoid ethical issues.

Personal Ethics Framework

It’s usually too late if you wait to be confronted with an ethical challenge. Examine each of the seven areas and develop a personal approach to each one. In the wild, every issue will look a little different. However, having an ethical approach in each category will give you a firm foundation for a response.

The Ethics Triangle

Remember, there are different ethical approaches for making decisions. Virtue, Consequences, and Duty-based ethics are the three types that make up the ethics triangle. The Ethics Triangle encourages decision makers to examine an issue from all three angles, leading to decisions that are both principled and practical.

10 Questions Before Interacting with Staff

If you are a board member or an executive leader, reflect on ten questions before interacting with staff. Self-awareness is the best pound of prevention for avoiding ethical issues that impact decision making.

How to Change and Maintain Your Ethical Culture

JD Solomon Inc. provides half-day and full-day training on ethics for board and senior management. Don’t miss out on these highly praised, interactive sessions that bring your team together on ethical issues and decision making.

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JD Solomon Inc. provides solutions for program development, asset management, and facilitation at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Visit our Program Development page for more information on business cases, third-party assessments, phasing projects, and related services.

JD Solomon Inc. Provides Ethics Training in Upstate SC

JD Solomon Inc. provides a variety of training opportunities, including ethics training.

JD Solomon Inc. recently provided ethics training to board members from Renewable Water, Greenville Water, and MetroConnects in Greenville, SC.  The half-day event was sponsored and hosted by Renewable Water.

The interactive session provided case examples from across the US, key insights, and pitfalls for utility board members. Key learning objectives included understanding the differences between legal and ethical requirements, applying ethics to decision making, and applying ethics to board-staff interactions.

An audience response system (ARS) was used to collect anonymous opinions during case examples and scenarios from the real world.

“Everyone loves to hear ethics stories from places like New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Michigan, and Alabama," explained facilitator JD Solomon. "We all have similar ethics issues, but some people take them to places that are hard to imagine."

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JD Solomon Inc. provides solutions for facilitation, asset management, and program development at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment.

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JD Solomon has three decades of experience consulting, training, and advising local and state boards and commissions. His practical experience includes serving as a key member of the consulting team that is developing statewide board training for the SC Rural Infrastructure Authority, serving twice as the chairman of the 15-member NC Environmental Management Commission, and serving as an interim town manager, planning director, and in roles on various local boards.