Decision Power: Clear Thinking for Better Decision Making

Most people believe they’re good at making decisions, but research shows that’s not true. Even though decisions are crucial to business success, our minds are not wired to maximise value. In this programme, you will learn a simple framework for thinking clearly about decisions, even when uncertainty is involved. You will apply the framework directly to a real problem you’re facing —and to every problem you encounter afterwards.

Your brain was not designed for complex business decisions

In the past fifty years, cognitive scientists have gained a deep understanding of how we make decisions, how we go wrong, and how we can do better. Armed with the right concepts, you can vastly improve the quality of your decisions.

In this two-day programme at RSM, Dr Philip Eskenazi leads you through the Decision Quality (DQ) framework. This simple framework allows you to approach decision-making in a structured, rational way. You will learn to work with six basic concepts, which together constitute the language your mind needs to reason about decisions. The process is easy to use and so flexible that it applies to all decisions: what to have for lunch, who to hire, or whether to invest in that new technology. During the programme, you will apply the method to a decision you’re facing in real life.

Learning objectives

By participating in this course you can add these strengths to your knowledge and skill set.

• Consistently make decisions that deliver the most value.
• Adjust your process to the importance and complexity of the decision—stop overthinking small decisions and underthinking big ones.
• Beat indecisiveness that wastes time and money.
• Jump into creative thinking mode instantly, so you can come up with imaginative solutions.
• Facilitate decision making more broadly, lifting the decision quality of your team or department.
• Navigate conflicting interests of different stakeholders.
• Feel confident making a high-stakes decision with lots of risk.