Making Decisions

Decisions are tough at the top, and don't often get easier at other levels. Rush them, and you'll be accused of acting rashly without checking the facts; spend too long working through them, and you’re branded indecisive. ‘Rational’ models are rarely much help in the time-pressured conditions you have to work in, despite the business information explosion; but it takes a careful selection of short-cuts in the problem-solving procedure to avoid the charge of arbitrary choice.

This report looks beyond ‘decision science’ to the different types of choice you have to make, the practical constraints under which you make them, and the strengths and weaknesses of various strategies currently in use. It includes assessments of:

• This report draws on the latest research to assess:
• rules-of-thumb and ‘snap’ judgements: as alternatives to ‘rational’ procedures
• competitive intelligence and group intelligence: as inputs to decision
• scenarios and games: as ways of working through decisions before taking them
• who to involve in a decision: to make sure it’s the right one, and get it accepted
• the architecture of decision: how to organise for more informed, reliable choice

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Contents:

• Choice of Two Types
• An Art not a Science
• 3. Real-World Decisions
• Intuitive Judgement
• Strategising
• Information For Decision
• When to Decide
• It's Everyone's Decision
• Getting Decisions Accepted
• The Politics of Decision
• References & Further
  Reading