Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions - Hardcover

Spetzler, Carl; Winter, Hannah; Meyer, Jennifer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1119144671 ISBN 13: 9781119144670

Publisher: Wiley, 2016

Synopsis

Add value with every decision using a simple yet powerful framework

Few things are as valuable in business, and in life, as the ability to make good decisions. Can you imagine how much more rewarding your life and your business would be if every decision you made were the best it could be? Decision Quality empowers you to make the best possible choice and get more of what you truly want from every decision.

Dr. Carl Spetzler is a leader in the field of decision science and has worked with organizations across industries to improve their decision-making capabilities. He and his co-authors, all experienced consultants and educators in this field, show you how to frame a problem or opportunity, create a set of attractive alternatives, identify relevant uncertain information, clarify the values that are important in the decision, apply tools of analysis, and develop buy-in among stakeholders. Their straightforward approach is elegantly simple, yet practical and powerful. It can be applied to all types of decisions.

Our business and our personal lives are marked by a stream of decisions. Some are small. Some are large. Some are life-altering or strategic. How well we make those decisions truly matters. This book gives you a framework and thinking tools that will help you to improve the odds of getting more of what you value from every choice. You will learn:

• The six requirements for decision quality, and how to apply them
• The difference between a good decision and a good outcome
• Why a decision can only be as good as the best of the available alternatives
• Methods for making both "significant" and strategic decisions
• The mental traps that undermine decision quality and how to avoid them
• How to deal with uncertainty—a factor in every important choice
• How to judge the quality of a decision at the time you're making it
• How organizations have benefited from building quality into their decisions.

Many people are satisfied with 'good enough' when making important decisions. This book provides a method that will take you and your co-workers beyond 'good enough' to true Decision Quality.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Praise for DECISION QUALITY

"No one has coached more businesses through high-stakes strategic decisions than Carl Spetzler and the team at SDG. If you're looking for wisdom on making better decisions in your business, you've come to the right place."
—CHIP & DAN HEATH, Bestselling CoAuthors including Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work

"An excellent guide for consultants, technical experts, and program managers to achieve the most impact from their work."
—THOMAS OLAVSON, PhD, Google Inc.

"From beginning to end, this book underscores the business benefits that accrue from investing in decision quality processes. The authors offer actionable steps that leaders can take to check biases rooted in deeply held beliefs, and steer their organizations toward better value creation."
—PHILIP E. TETLOCK, PhD, Bestselling Author including Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

"A clear 'must read' for everyone in a leadership position."
—GERARD KLEISTERLEE, Chairman, Vodafone Group Plc

"Implementing the decision quality processes described in this book should become the 'new normal' for all organizations and their leaders."
—CHINA GORMAN, Former CEO, Great Place to Work Institute

"The authors deliver an approach and philosophy that can provide an immediate and positive impact on personal and business decisions. Books that achieve this in such a readable format are rare indeed—acquiring a copy could be the first in a series of quality decisions!"
—ANDREW EVANS, MBA, Unilever; Fellow, Society of Decision Professionals

"A very savvy, sorely needed systematic approach to making uncertainty an integral dimension of the questions we ask and the answers we seek. Their strategy shows you how to judge the quality of your decisions without knowing or relying on outcomes that may or may not be a reflection of the actual decision process."
—ROBERT A. BURTON, MD, Bestselling Author including On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not

From the Inside Flap

Few things are as valuable in business, and in life, as the ability to make good decisions. Decision Quality is here to help you make decisions that maximize value creation and manage risk— every time.

The book comes from the dynamic team of award- winning educator Carl Spetzler and his colleagues, Hannah Winter and Jennifer Meyer. This trio has helped shape the decision quality profession over the years—in the field and in the classroom. They've also worked with leaders around the world, across industries, to elevate the quality of their decisions. That same expertise is now available to you.

The framework at the heart of this book comes from the authors' decades-deep foundation in decision theory, behavioral decision sciences, and real-world practice. You'll get a reliable methodology that can be applied to all types of decisions—from business to personal, for big bets or smaller choices—regardless of your level, specialty, and industry. Every chapter unfolds with focused lessons, insights, and examples to help you navigate complex decisions.

Decision Quality enables you to:

• Avoid the most common traps that undermine decision making
• Judge the quality of your decisions more accurately, as you're making them
• Navigate today's uncertainties with confidence
• Execute on your decisions with greater buy-in and success

Join the growing group of leaders who are making decisions that create greater value—every time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1119144671
• ISBN 13: 9781119144670
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256