Summary: Decomposition-based algorithms for multi-objective optimization problems have increased in popularity in the past decade. Although convergence to the Pareto optimal front (PF) for such algorithms can often be superior to that of Pareto-based alternatives, the problem of effectively distributing Pareto optimal solutions in a high-dimensional space has not been solved. In this work, we introduce a novel concept which we call generalized decomposition. Generalized decomposition provides a framework with which the decision maker (DM) can guide the underlying search algorithm toward specific regions of interest, or the entire Pareto front, with the desired distribution of Pareto optimal solutions. The method simplifies many-objective problems by unifying the three performance objectives of an a posteriori multi-objective optimizer – convergence to the PF, evenly distributed Pareto optimal solutions and coverage of the entire front – to only one, that of convergence. A framework, established on generalized decomposition, and an estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) based on low-order statistics, namely the cross-entropy method, is created to illustrate the benefits of the proposed concept for many-objective problems. The algorithm – MACE-gD – is shown to be highly competitive with the existing best-in-class decomposition-based algorithm (MOEA/D) and a more elaborate EDA method (RM-MEDA).