| The Magical Number 7, Plus or Minus 2 - Some Limits | | | | the result will be unreliable. Therefore it is essential to |
| to our Capacity for Processing Information | | | | carefully select those factors which have a bearing on |
| Having studied the behaviour of senior management | | | | a problem. |
| one often observes that they don't like being inundated | | | | Secondly, the chronic shortage of time. The formulation |
| with an abundance of detailed data and always try to | | | | of a Focus and the understanding of the CSF's of a |
| concentrate on the heart of the matter. This can be | | | | company are based on these considerations. Inevitably |
| illustrated by the fact that when you ask a senior | | | | many strategic decisions are based on a few selected |
| manager to name the Critical Success Factors of his | | | | factors while we understand that reality is much more |
| business he mostly comes up with 7 plus or minus 2 | | | | complex. Montgomery commented that: |
| factors (5 to 9). For him these are the essential | | | | "A commander has got to be a very clear thinker: able |
| strategic indicators. | | | | to sort out the essentials from the mass of lesser |
| There are two reasons for this: | | | | factors, which have a bearing on every problem. |
| Firstly, the fact that most human beings can only relate | | | | Military problems are in essence simple, but the ability |
| 7 plus or minus 2 variables at once. One could say that | | | | to simplify; and to select from the mass of detail those |
| this is our mental span of control. When confronted | | | | things which are important is not always so easy" |
| with a larger variance, the quality of the judgments | | | | Montgomery believed that the ability to select the |
| made become unreliable. Many indications point at the | | | | essentials from lesser factors is crucial.One might |
| fact that humans possess a natural selection | | | | conclude that the remark of Montgomery and the |
| mechanism which protects us from information | | | | behaviour of managers point at a natural human |
| overload. Many psychological tests reveal that when a | | | | characteristic. |
| person has to interpret or relate more than 9 variables | | | | |