Dramatically improve the decisions you make every day using insights from the latest neuroscience

We make hundreds of decisions daily, from small ones - such as what to wear today and how to drive to work - to big ones - such as the company strategy and whether to launch a restructuring program that may impact thousands of people. In business, studies suggest that company executives spend 40% of their time making decisions and that the effectiveness of their decisions largely drives the results of the companies that they lead.

In Super Deciders: The Science and Practice of Making Decisions in Dynamic and Uncertain Times, a team of renown researchers and business advisors deliver an application of the latest advances in neuroscience to effectively making the most difficult decisions, those we make in dynamic environments, in situations of uncertainty when we need to predict outcomes, we're missing relevant information, time is scarce, and the environment is constantly changing.

The book is written in three parts. In the first part, the book offers a practical framework for making effective decisions under uncertainty. In the second part, the book discusses approaches to effectively implement those decisions, thus managing change at every level, from the individual to the organizational. Finally, the book develops suggestions on how leaders can diagnose and improve - in themselves and in the people they lead - the cognitive abilities relevant to decision-making.

You'll also find:

• An enlightening business narrative detailing the journey of a fictional leader of an international travel operator named Inuk.
• Six cases that put you into real-life situations of making difficult decisions and that help you assess your decision-making effectiveness.
• An accessible and fun introduction to the neuroscience of decision-making.

Ideal for managers, executives, directors, and other business leaders, Super Deciders is a can't-miss decision-making playbook that you've been waiting for.

Autorentext

CLAUDIO FESER, a senior partner emeritus at McKinsey & Company, serves on multiple company boards, including as chairperson. He teaches innovation and leadership at the University of St. Gallen and ETH Zurich, Switzerland. DANIELLA LAUREIRO-MARTINEZ is a Senior Scientist in the Technology and Innovation Management Group at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where she leads the COLAB, a research group focused on cognition, learning and adaptive behavior. KAROLIN FRANKENBERGER is Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation and the Dean of the Executive School of Management, Technology and Law at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. STEFANO BRUSONI is Professor of Technology and Innovation Management and Vice-Rector for Continuing Education at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Klappentext

PRAISE FOR SUPER DECIDERS "The decisions we make today are more complex and interconnected than ever before. Super Deciders rigorously cuts through the noise with tools that help leaders of all kinds reach more informed and impactful decisions."
-GREG CASE, Chief Executive Officer of Aon "Companies in dynamic, uncertain times should not rely on 'either-or' but 'and' decisions that lead to agile strategies. The current business needs to be constantly improved and optimized while agile strategies create further options for the future."
-JOERG REINHARDT, Chairman of Novartis "Super Deciders brings discipline into the decision process that leaders face daily as they navigate their way to the strategic vision for their organization. Every decision needs to be influenced by the clarity of the vision for stakeholder value creation! How to bring those disciplines into the daily leadership cadence is critical for every leader and this book offers new insights into this critical leadership skill."
-ROBERT CHAPMAN, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer of Barry-Wehmiller and author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family "Super Deciders masterfully weaves together the science of decision-making with the magic of storytelling. A must-read for anyone seeking clarity in turbulent times."
-ROLF DOBELLI, Founder of WORLD.MINDS and author of the million-copy bestseller The Art of Thinking Clearly "With a scientific journey through recent findings on how our brain understands problems and on how it makes decisions, Super Deciders develops a structured approach to decision-making that helps leaders navigate today's volatile, unpredictable, and ever-changing markets. Insightful concepts delivered with remarkable simplicity."
-SABINE KELLER-BUSSE, President, UBS Switzerland "This timely book is an essential read for every decision-maker in organizations. The book lays out a systematic approach to problem-solving by bringing insights from research in neuroscience, psychology, and management to augment our experiences and intuitions with a more scientific approach to decision-making. The Super Deciders model provides actionable insights to decision-makers to know better what drives them-their goals, preferences, and values-and how they can make better decisions to build more adaptive organizations in an increasingly complex and uncertain world."
-VIBHA GABA, The Berghmans Lhoist Chaired Professor of Entrepreneurial Leadership, INSEAD

Inhalt

Foreword by Mario Greco xiii

Introduction xix

Prologue xxvii

Part One: Understanding Decisions Under Uncertainty

Chapter 1: Making Great Predictions 3

Chapter 2: Case 1: Making People Decisions 19

Chapter 3: Developing Options to Approximate the Right Decision 29

Part Two: Making Decisions Under Uncertainty

Chapter 4: Case 2: Making Strategic Decisions 57

Chapter 5: Identifying Assumptions and Testing Them 69

Chapter 6: Case 3: Making Decisions About Company Growth 95

Chapter 7: Developing Better Options 107

Part Three: Managing the Tensions Created by Decisions Under Uncertainty

Chapter 8: Case 4: Implementing Decisions 129

Chapter 9: Managing Change 135

Part Four: Becoming Super Deciders

Chapter 10: Case 5: Making Work- Life Balance Decisions 157

Chapter 11: Becoming Better at Making Decisions 165

Chapter 12: Case 6: Making "Tough" Decisions 185

Chapter 13: Preparing to Be Wrong 195

Part Five: Conclusions

Chapter 14: Epilogue 211

Chapter 15: Conclusions 215

Notes 225

Appendixes 227

References 249

About the Authors 267

Index 271