DEEP Insight
Making Decisions: More Than You Think 
Can´t make up your mind? This dossier will not only help you to make decisions, it will ensure they are smart.
This executive dossier includes the following articles:
Improve Your Odds of Success
de Santiago, Rafael
Suppose you have a big decision to make, like investing in a project in a context of highly uncertain market conditions. Tools such as decision diagrams can help managers to structure problems, carefully consider alternatives and calculate the risks involved. This article shows how to use decision trees and expected value to improve your decision-making processes. However, don't be fooled into thinking that applying a "scientific" process will guarantee success. Drawing on several well-known studies and experiments used in his classes, the author shows how managers need to watch out for human biases that make our seemingly rational decisions far from infallible. He suggests a number of practical strategies for limiting the influence of these biases on decision-making, both at the individual and organizational levels.
Becoming a Decision Leader
Iyengar, Sheena
Today we have to confront more choices than ever -- decisions for which we have no script. This article is based on innovative research by the author on choice, which formed the basis of her award-winning book, The Art of Choosing. She suggests the steps to take to exercise choice wisely. We need to learn how to counteract the limits on our cognitive abilities and resources, so that we obtain the most benefit from choice with the least effort -- for ourselves as well as for the consumers and employees we serve. The goal is not to manipulate people but to design more helpful forms of choice. Ultimately, it requires becoming a more effective leader who exercises choice judiciously and responsibly.
Deciding Your Fate
Brion, Sebastien
Though talk of power makes some people uncomfortable, there's no doubt that it is vitally important in organizational contexts to influence others, perform your job and attain goals. Drawing upon extensive research from the field of organizational behavior and psychology, the author identifies six steps to gain power -- meaning control over some valued resource upon which others depend -- and then use that power for good, or for "pro-social ends." Only by learning to use your power wisely -- first and foremost, for the benefit of the people around you and the organization you serve -- will leaders be able to enhance group success and make decisions that have a positive impact on others.
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