More Decisions

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: more decision making books and articles

Competencies:decision making, judgment, self-development

Who benefits: anyone seeking to improve their judgments and/or decision making abilities

Consultant Usage: significant listings of current reference material on the comptencies of decision making and judgment

What’s it about? I want to thank Time Magazine for doing most of the work for me this week. Last week I wrote a review of How We Decide and compared it to Blink.  Turns out that in February, Time Magazine did a comparison of How We Decide with three other books on a populist approach to decision making.  I made a “decision” to share their “catch phrases” with you and throw in one more populist book and some more traditional options as well.  First, the Time Magazine reviews:

Predictably Irrational – “If you want to know how our irrationality affects markets, try this empirical approach to the field.”  The book is also described as a bit “wacky”, which would appeal to me.

Nudge– “Save the planet, save yourself.  Do-gooders, policymakers, this one’s for you.”  It is apparently all in the little details, with an optimistic or diabolical plan to “gently” nudge people toward a point of view. 

Blunder – “Self-help for history buffs”.  The seven cognitive traps that cause us to screw up from time to time … or in some cases of people with low EQ, a lot.  The book is filled with historical, and in some cases hysterical, blunders.  This book goes to the top of my summer reading list.

 Sway – “If you think you know how you think, you’d better think again! Take this insightful, delightful trip to the sweet spot where economics, psychology, and sociology converge, and you’ll discover how our all-too-human minds actually work.”  This one is also on my summer reading list. 

If you are seeking more traditional applied business competency on decision making, these articles have recently appeared in Harvard Business Review: “Leader’s Framework for Decision Making”; “Hidden Traps in Decision Making (HBR Classic)”;” Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance”; “Decisions and Desire” and more are available at decision-making.

Making Better Decisions: Leveraging Your Organization’s Data and Information –I pulled this book chapter out from the decision making list above because I consider it particularly important to those of you involved in continuous improvement programs (by any name).  It is from the 2008 book Data Driven: Profiting from Your Most Important Business Asset.

Wharton On Making Decisions – “Wharton on Making Decisions provides a unique blend of theory and practical experience. The authors’ insights are at many times humorous, always instructive, and definitely thought provoking.”  This 2001 book is still one of the most thorough and analytical books on the topic.  

Which one or ones to read (or not read any)…well that’s your decision.  Catch you later.
[tags]decision making, decision makers, crictical decions, judgment, risk management, continuous improvement, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.