Appraising Information in an Integration of Evidence-Based Management and Military Judgment and Decision Making

Abstract

This article is the final entry in a four-part series that discusses the integration of the evidence-based management (EBM) framework with the military judgement and decision making (MJDM) process as explained in Joint Planning, Joint Publication (JP) 5-0. The instructional nature of this article is intentional. The instructions provided herein are meant to supplement the first article in the series, which demonstrated that an integration of EBM and MJDM is feasible. These innovations build on the first article with practical methods of mitigating bias in the appraisal process. This article makes three propositions: first, that the limits of human cognition manifest as bias in decision-making processes; second, that there is an indirect relationship between time and efficiency lost by the limits of human cognition; and third, that within the EBM-MJDM integration, bias can be mitigated in the appraisal process that is integrated in the systematic review. Using these propositions, this article appraises the quality of scholarship, organizational data, subject matter expertise, and stakeholder input from the EBM framework into the Joint planning processes outlined in JP 5-0. The propositions were the basis of specific recommendations on appraising data specific to the EBM-MJDM integration.