Choosing by Advantages (CBA) is a best-known practice in the lean construction community for making good, durable decisions. This video (Google NotebookLM) introduces the core concepts and steps of the CBA methodology, demonstrating how to use a sound process to achieve sound results.

Why You Need CBA
Many decisions are made using quick, intuitive thinking (System 1), relying on gut feelings, or the "better the devil we know" mentality based on past, marginally acceptable experiences. Relying on intuition or past decisions doesn't take much work, but the results often show. CBA provides a safe framework for good rational judgment by intentionally moving decision-making out of System 1 and into the logical, analytical part of the brain (System 2).

How CBA Works
CBA is a streamlined, systematic, and repeatable system for making and documenting decisions, which saves time and money by preventing rework. The process emphasizes focusing on the importance and differentiation of each alternative's advantages.

Key steps of the CBA Tabular Method include:
1. Identify alternatives: The people, things, or plans from which one option is chosen (e.g., an apple, an orange, and a banana for a post-workout snack).
2. Identify factors: Elements containing criteria required for the decision where an advantage exists between alternatives.
3. Identify attributes and criteria: Criteria are the must or want conditions, and attributes are the character, quantity, or quality of one alternative. The least-preferred attribute is underlined.
4. Identify advantages: An advantage is defined as a beneficial difference between attributes of two alternatives. Note that the language of "pros and cons" is avoided; a disadvantage of one alternative is simply an advantage of another.
5. Assess importance of each advantage: Stakeholders identify the paramount advantage (the single most important advantage across all factors) and assign it 100 points, using it as an anchor point to score the importance of all other advantages.
6. Consider Cost Separately: Cost is addressed in the final step, after the advantages are identified and scored. This helps determine if the calculated advantage score of one alternative is worth the monetary difference compared to the next highest alternative, considering the law of decreasing returns for money spent.
CBA focuses on differentiation. If a factor (like safety) is necessary table stakes for pre-qualification, but the differentiation between acceptable alternatives is small to almost nil, it should not be used as a factor in the final selection.

Applying CBA
CBA has proven helpful for teams, such as engineers who needed to select an air handler. By conducting a CBA session informed by the specific scenario (a mechanical space application), the team successfully moved away from the company’s standard high-end unit and selected a low-end unit. The decision was based not on lowest cost, but on energy efficiency (the paramount advantage for that scenario), resulting in a best-value decision and saving $11,000.

For very simple, low-stakes decisions, you can use the Instant CBA method, while complex or high-stakes decisions may require the Tabular Method, the Simplified Method, or the Graphic Method (Tabular plus a graph plotting importance vs. cost).

To learn more about the principles discussed in this video and to become proficient, start practicing with a trusted coach.

Disclaimer: This video is not sponsored by Google.
Some content and insights were developed using Google NotebookLM, an experimental research tool from Google Labs that helps users explore and synthesize their own documents with AI.
Used here for reference and research purposes only.
🔗 Learn more: https://notebooklm.google
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