Judgment Calls

Part One

Stories About the Participative Problem–Solving Process

THE FIRST PART OF THE BOOK begins with a few stories of organizations that showcase the first two themes of the new pattern discussed in the introduction: framing decisions as an iterative problem-solving process, and engaging in a more self-consciously participative approach to getting to a good answer. The segment begins with the tale of NASA, and a difficult launch decision its personnel had to make one time about the (recently retired) space shuttle. We'll see how NASA—an organization known for some bad decisions with tragic consequences in the past—learned from its mistakes and embraced a better approach to organizational judgment. After that we'll focus on an interesting ...