Book description
A comprehensive look at decision-making practices and what can be done to eradicate errors
Designed to help companies in any industry make fewer mistakes, The Economist Guide to Decision Making is an in-depth look at the tools and techniques for preventing errors and improving efficiency. Exploring how and why decisions go awry in the first place; what decision-makers can do to counter the psychological, social, and other forces that can undermine individual judgment and pull organizations off course; and highlighting often overlooked aspects of the science of decision making, the book illustrates how mistakes really happen so that they can be better avoided.
Drawing on examples taken from companies around the world, including Motorola, EMI, and the London Stock Exchange, as well as gold mines in South Africa, and food contamination scandals in China, The Economist Guide to Decision Making thoughtfully considers how companies can be more effective and improve their decision-making strategies.
Presents new ways for companies to improve their decision-making processes
Explains how decision-making works and discusses the tools available for helping reduce the likelihood of errors
Draws on examples taken from companies around the globe
Decision making can never prevent mistakes entirely, but a better understanding of how to improve practices and processes is invaluable for companies looking to increase their overall efficiency. The Economist Guide to Decision Making leads the way.
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Illusions of Control: The Confidence Trap
-
Chapter 2: Blinkered Vision: The Judgment Trap
- Look no Further: Confirmation Traps
- Why First Impressions Matter: Anchoring Traps
- Seen it All Before: Analogy Traps
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Availability Traps
- Alluring Images: Vividness Traps
- Too Good to Lose?
- Emotional Rollercoaster: Instant-Response Traps
- Two Dead Fish: Expectation Traps
- Expectations are Reality
- Surprise, Surprise . . .
- Avoiding Judgmental Traps
- All that Glitters: Evaluating Opportunity
- Separating Heart and Head
- When not to Make a Decision
- “Only the Paranoid Survive”
-
Chapter 3: Ghosts and Shadows: Where is Reality?
- What is a Problem?
- What Do Hierarchies Really Do?
- Solving the Wrong Problem
- The Invented Reality
- Rushing a Solution
- Solving Problems that Do not Exist
- Subtle Movements
- Corporate Myopia
- Reality as Myth
- The Ruling Myth
- Mythical Rights and Wrongs
- Go Slow to Go Fast
- The Problem Behind the Problem
- Listening to Galileo: Conceptual Blockbusting
- Second-Order Thinking
- Stop Problems Before they Start
- Solve the Right Problem
- Apply the “Because” Test
- Finding the Lobster: The Importance of Mind States
- Expecting the Unexpected
- Fact or Fiction?
- Testing Reality
-
Chapter 4: Gorilla in the Room: Information and Decision-Making
- How Do We Know What We Think We Know?
- Where the Unexpected Come From
- Risk as a Mirror of Imagination
- Perception is Reality
- Gorilla in the Room
- Complicit Computers
- Liars in Service of Truth
- Shut the Toolbox and Open the Mind
- Going into “Lockdown”
- What is the Question?
- Information-Gathering Must Have a Point
- The Reality of Planning
- Ask Why? Not Who?
- Chapter 5: Conspiracies of Optimism: Group Dynamics
-
Chapter 6: Shifting Tides: Power and Politics in Decision-Making
- The Dynamics of Power
- The Problem with Rules and Instructions
- Low Power
- Inevitable Tensions
- The Politics of the Deadly Ds
- Thinking the Unthinkable
- The Art of the Possible: Managing Power and Politics
- Getting the Approach Right
- Managing Conflict
- Ending the Debate
- The Importance of Authority
- Missing Links
- The Old, Old Story
-
Chapter 7: Predictable Surprises
- Today’s Solution: Tomorrow’s Problem
- When Solutions Dictate or Distract
- Winner’s Curse
- The Curse of Establishment Status
- The Tragedy of the Commons
- Herding
- The Missing Hero
- Vicious Circle or Exploding Cluster
- Self-Fulfilling and Self-Destroying Prophecies
- Paradoxes
- Anticipate or Trip . . .
- . . . And Query the Control Dials
- If the Front Door is Closed . . .
- Loose-Tight Virtues
- Dare to Act Counter-Intuitively
- Leaving the Party
- Symbolic Importance
- When Being Wrong is Right
-
Chapter 8: The March of Folly: The Escalation Trap
- Too Much Promise
- Games People Play
- Escalating IT
- A Life of their Own
- Denial and Delusion
- Escalation of Commitment
- Fear of Failure – and Combatting it
- Waste not Want not
- Sunk Costs
- A Question of Framing
- Public Image
- Preventing Escalation
- Recognising and Reacting to the Larger Signs
- Look to the Future
- Allowing for Fallibility
- Going for it
- Letting it Lie
- The Role of Budgets
- Stepping Back
- Chapter 9: Decisionless Decisions: The Continuity Trap
- Chapter 10: Risk a Little, Gain a Lot: Options Thinking
- Closing Thoughts
- Index
Product information
- Title: Guide to Decision Making: Getting it More Right than Wrong
- Author(s):
- Release date: September 2012
- Publisher(s): Wiley
- ISBN: 9781118185353
You might also like
book
Smart Choices
Become confident in your choices. Where should I live? Is it time to get a new …
book
John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Smart Decision Making
John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Smart Decision Making is a one-stop of practical advice and …
book
Want to Make Better Decisions? Start Experimenting
Big tech companies such as Google and Booking.com are running tens of thousands of experiments annually, …
book
Compass: Your Guide for Leadership Development and Coaching
This book is for leaders and managers looking to develop themselves and others. It is for …