Designers of spreadsheets realize this and new spreadsheets provide many powerful expanded tools for scenario management. Most scenario manager generators use decision variables as inputs, and calculate measures of effectiveness, utilities, as outputs. The archetypes of this approach is linear programming and its extensions, and more specifically, goal programming. When decision facilitators advocate this proactive approach, they stimulate management to uncover new opportunities and alternatives before a decision is made. New spreadsheets include such solvers for linear and nonlinear optimization problems to empower managers to use this proactive approach.
Everyday examples are geographic maps, graphs, scale models, and photographs.
The decision facilitator uses them as basic tools to match the mental represen- tations managers use to make decisions. Spreadsheets are particularly suitable at simultaneously managing data, formulas, and graphics, and for fusing the three into a single one. The information is not in the form of abstract mathematical notation, but relies on more intuitive representations. This is the trait that makes spreadsheets powerful tools for modeling business situations, creating business scenarios and supporting decision conferencing. We must stop teaching the normative paradigm, and replace it with the decision facilitating paradigm.