“Yes, But or Only If”
Conditional Decision Making
FEATURED PAPER
By Dr. Dale Deardorff
California, USA
Abstract
Project Management and Project success is based on finding the correct decision in many complex and evolving situations. The traditional methods for making decisions, based on a “Yes or No” action, does not fit many of the situations we experience in the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) working project environments.
The “If-Then” and “Switch” terminology used in logic diagraming & programming is problematic and there now exists the need to add conditional decision-making terminology and models that describe “But if”, “But only”, “No and”, No but if” and “Maybe if” conditions to clarity current project scenarios.
Keywords: Project Management Decision Making, Conditional Decision Making, Conditional Decision Making Plus, Decision-making, Strategic Alignment, Project Management, Leadership, Conditional Frameworks, Bounded Rationality, Uninhibited Decision Making.
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploration of the conditional decision making process for project managers and project team members to excel in their situational decision making. The problem can be a difficulty in choosing a direction due to challenges like unclear goals, too much or conflicting information, or emotional biases preventing the optimal decision from being made. A Pracademic approach to decision making is an integration of practical experience based on professional lessons learned, experimentation (experiments) and the academic perspective of theory (conceptual) based logic. This blend of an integrated and interconnected thinking allows a Project manager to balance the traditional mindsets and the conditional approach. Project Management Institute (PMI) acknowledges the recent introduction of a “Hybrid” approach to decision making based on an adaptive & predictive mindset (PMI, 2025).
Additionally, there may be decision paralysis caused by elements such as complexity, lack of positive motivation, and cognitive biases. While a single, difficult decision might be impossible to identify due to complexity and ambiguity in the information we have, there are opportunities for clarification if we explore conditional decision making.
Decision-making in project management requires structured tactical reasoning that allows project managers to determine the feasibility, alignment, and strategic integration of proposed actions. The use of conditional decision-making models can help project practitioners evaluate proposed project components or changes with pracademic clarity. This paper introduces a conditional decision-making framework consisting of five proposed decision outcomes.
These decision-making conditions are: No, But If; Maybe, If; Yes, But Only; Yes, And; & No, And. The proposed framework provides operational definitions, application guidance, and examples to support project managers in leading strategic decisions. Two additional problems for project managers when making decisions are a fear of failure and a lack of information. Both of these can be solved thru traditional decision-making processes and personal skills training. Our focus for this publication is to describe new areas of non-traditional decision making, i.e. conditional decision making.
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Author’s Note: The Conditional Decision-Making Plus (CDM+) model and instrument development and flow diagrams were sponsored by the Rocky Peak Leadership Center. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Dale S. Deardorff, Rocky Peak Leadership Center, 11238 Sierra Pass Place, Chatsworth, California, CA 91311, United States. Email: dale.deardorff@csun.edu.
How to cite this paper: Deardorff, D. S. (2026). Pracademic Project Management: “Yes, But or Only If” Conditional Decision Making; PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue II, February. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/pmwj161-Feb2026-Deardorff-Conditional-Decision-Making.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Dale S. Deardorff
California, USA
Dr. Dale S. Deardorff worked for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and Space Propulsion Development divisions as a Project and Program manager for over 20 years. He worked for the Lockheed Burbank “Skunk” works and Aircraft division for almost 10 years and a high technology Valencia California start up for a couple of years. This 30 plus years’ experience is a “Pracademic” blending of commercial, military, government, NASA and high technology organizations. Dale has taught Project Management “online” for multiple universities as an adjunct instructor since 2003 and continues to contribute to project management methodologies and philosophies as a current thought leader.
He created the Rocky Peak Leadership Center in 2010 and has helped modern organizations as an enterprise and executive consultant in the areas of thinking methodologies, and Innovation and leadership training and facilitation. Dr. Deardorff volunteers with youth leadership programs and supports local youth training in the areas of personal mastery and effective collaboration techniques.
Rocky Peak Leadership Center – www.rockypeakLC.com
Dale S Deardorff contact – d.s.deardorff@gmail.com
To view other works by Dr. Deardorff, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/dr-dale-s-deardorff/
