multi-perspective-decision-wheel

name	multi-perspective-decision-wheel
description	Structure a decision or design challenge through multiple perspectives before committing to action. Use as a synthesis step after scoping, mapping, and dilemma navigation when a group needs a wiser next step.
disable-model-invocation	false
user-invocable	true
effort	medium
skill_id	multi-perspective-decision-wheel
skill_name	Multi-Perspective Decision Wheel
domain	original-frameworks
version	1.0
evidence_strength	emerging
evidence_sources	["H3Uni Wheel of Wisdom tutorial and facilitation guides (CC BY-SA 4.0, practitioner method)","Midgley, G. (2000). Systemic Intervention: Philosophy, Methodology, and Practice. Kluwer Academic/Plenum.","Rajagopalan, R., & Midgley, G. (2015). Knowing differently in systemic intervention. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 32, 546–561."]
input_schema	{"required":[{"field":"decision_or_challenge","type":"string","description":"The specific decision, proposal, or design challenge to examine — must be a question of judgement, not a factual question"},{"field":"context","type":"string","description":"The school, curriculum, or community context in which the decision sits"}],"optional":[{"field":"prior_inquiry_summary","type":"string","description":"Insights from prior scoping, hexagon mapping, Three Horizons mapping, or dilemma navigation that inform this decision"},{"field":"perspectives_to_include","type":"array","description":"Specific stakeholders, disciplines, time horizons, or value lenses to include as spokes on the wheel"},{"field":"student_level","type":"string","description":"Year group or age range"},{"field":"decision_constraints","type":"string","description":"Real constraints the decision must operate within — resources, authority, time, policy, or community factors"}]}
output_schema	{"type":"object","fields":[{"field":"central_question","type":"string","description":"The decision question placed at the centre of the wheel"},{"field":"perspectives","type":"array","description":"Each perspective as a spoke: name, what it sees, what it misses, what it asks, what it contributes"},{"field":"tensions_between_perspectives","type":"array","description":"At least one genuine tension where two perspectives see the situation differently"},{"field":"synthesis_insights","type":"array","description":"What the whole wheel reveals that no single perspective could see alone"},{"field":"proposal_improvements","type":"object","description":"What the proposal or decision should keep, change, test, and stop"},{"field":"next_responsible_step","type":"object","description":"One specific, feasible next action with responsibility, evidence needed, and limits"},{"field":"quality_gate_results","type":"object","description":"Results of structural quality checks on the decision wheel"}]}
chains_well_with	["dilemma-navigation-for-education-design","three-horizons-learning-transition-mapper","agency-circles-for-systems-action","project-brief-designer","regenerative-project-design-orchestrator","assessment-validity-checker","seeds-regenerative-inquiry-cycle"]
teacher_time	10 minutes
tags	["h3uni","decision-making","multiple-perspectives","wheel-of-wisdom","original-framework","emerging-evidence","programme-planning","boundary-critique"]

Multi-Perspective Decision Wheel

What This Skill Does

Structures a decision or design challenge by examining it through multiple perspectives — stakeholders, disciplines, time horizons, and value systems — before committing to action. Each perspective is a spoke on the wheel: it sees something the others cannot, asks a question others might miss, and has a blind spot. The synthesis of all perspectives produces a wiser decision than any single viewpoint could.

This skill comes last in the H3Uni sequence, after scoping, hexagon mapping, Three Horizons mapping, and dilemma navigation. Running it without prior inquiry produces shallow, opinion-based wheels. Its value lies in synthesising the insights and tensions that earlier methods have surfaced into a considered, multi-perspective recommendation.

The skill does not produce a formula for the right answer. It produces a structured understanding of what each perspective sees, misses, and asks — from which a group can make a wiser decision than they could without it.

Evidence Space and Strength of Evidence

This skill encodes the H3Uni Wheel of Wisdom method, a practitioner tool for multi-perspective decision-making, grounded theoretically in Gerald Midgley's systemic intervention framework.

Component Evidence

• H3Uni Wheel of Wisdom (practitioner framework): H3Uni's facilitation guides describe the Wheel of Wisdom as a tool for structuring multi-perspective dialogue around a central question. The method uses named roles or perspectives as disciplined lenses and emphasises genuine perspective-taking rather than debate. These are practitioner resources, not peer-reviewed studies.
• Midgley (2000) systemic intervention (moderate): Midgley's boundary critique establishes that the choice of whose perspective is included and excluded from a decision is itself an ethical and analytical act. His framework grounds the wheel's emphasis on including marginalised, future, and non-human perspectives alongside the most visible stakeholders.
• Rajagopalan & Midgley (2015) knowing differently (moderate): This paper argues that systemic intervention requires multiple ways of knowing — not only technical and stakeholder perspectives but also tacit, cultural, and embodied knowledge. This supports the wheel's emphasis on making multiple epistemologies visible before committing to action.

Synthesis Evidence

The classroom decision wheel template — including the four-part perspective structure (sees, misses, asks, contributes), the tension-naming step, the proposal improvement framing, and the next-responsible-step format — was adapted from H3Uni's Wheel of Wisdom for school-age students at REAL School Budapest by Gareth Manning. This classroom synthesis has not been independently evaluated.

H3Uni methods are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 by H3Uni, founded by Anthony Hodgson and Bill Sharpe. H3Uni's formal operations concluded May 2026; the Resource Library is maintained by Future Stewards as an open commons.