Check Out This Decision Makers’ Reading & Viewing List
Thought Leader List for Decision-Makers
If you want to learn more about moving forward with clear decisions in uncertain times,
check out these decision-making and leadership experts’ books, podcasts and videos.
1. Annie Duke
Annie Duke, a former professional poker player and decision strategist, offers tools and frameworks to improve decision-making skills. She emphasizes understanding probabilities, recognizing biases, and learning from past decisions to make more informed choices.
In this insightful talk, Duke discusses her book Thinking in Bets and shares strategies to enhance decision quality, focusing on separating decision outcomes from decision processes and embracing uncertainty as a fundamental aspect of making choices.
2. Rita McGrath
Rita McGrath, a renowned expert on business strategy and Columbia business school faculty member, explores how to identify and navigate strategic inflection points—critical changes that can alter the trajectory of a business. She provides tools to anticipate these shifts and adapt proactively.
Rita McGrath highlights the need for businesses to embrace transient advantages by continuously adapting strategies and operations. Success depends on fostering agility, experimentation, and leadership that encourages constant learning.
3. Amy Edmondson
Book: The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth (2018)
Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School, examines the importance of psychological safety in fostering a culture of open communication, learning, and innovation. She provides insights into how leaders can create environments where employees feel safe to speak up and contribute.
· Book: Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well (2023).
Edmondson argues that a decision that turns out to be wrong is not inherently bad if it was made thoughtfully and with the best available information. She emphasizes that such intelligent failures are valuable learning opportunities, essential for growth and innovation. The key is to face the failure and then use it to reflect, learn, and adapt without fear of blame. She distinguishes these from avoidable mistakes, encouraging organizations to foster environments where calculated risks are taken without fear. The book emphasizes that learning from the right failures is essential for resilience, creativity, and progress.
Podcast: Hidden Brain, Making the Most of Your Mistakes, Interview with Amy Edmondson (2024)
Edmondon explains that some decisions, despite their negative outcomes, occur in new frontiers and provide valuable learning opportunities. Again, as in her book Right Kind of Wrong, she emphasizes the importance of distinguishing these from avoidable mistakes, advocating for a mindset that views certain pioneering failures as essential for growth and innovation. Edmondson suggests that by embracing and analyzing these right kinds of failures, individuals and organizations can foster environments conducive to continuous improvement and resilience.
4. Daniel Kahneman
Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011)
Daniel Kahneman, psychologist and Nobel Prize winner in economics, explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow that good decision-making under uncertainty starts with a careful, deliberate process—gathering information, analyzing data, and considering different perspectives. Intuitive thinking can be useful for routine decisions but often leads to errors in unfamiliar situations. In complex scenarios, breaking decisions into smaller judgments and evaluating each one separately leads to better outcomes.
· Video: Daniel Kahneman 2-Step approach for decision making
Kahneman suggests approaching important decisions, like hiring or mergers, in two distinct steps to reduce bias and improve judgment. First, gather information by evaluating each relevant criterion separately. For example, assessing a candidate’s experience, skills, and cultural fit independently. Only after thoroughly analyzing each factor on its own should you make the final decision, ensuring that every aspect has been considered objectively before forming an overall judgment.
5. Kathy Pearson
· Video Podcast: Leadership Traps Holding You Back with Dr. Kathy Pearson and Charles Good, Institute for Management Studies, The Good Leadership Podcast
Dr. Kathy Pearson is an expert in decision science. I had the opportunity to speak several times when my team brought her in to teach executives at my former company’s leadership development programs. She consistently received top marks from participants. Here, she offers insights into how leaders avoid traps and navigate uncertainty and complexity in decision-making. She emphasizes the importance of agility, scenario planning, and understanding cognitive biases to make effective choices in dynamic environments.
