Decision Quality

Foreword
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
Biographies
 
Part I The Decision Quality Framework
 
1 The Power of Decisions
 
Decision Quality: A Framework for Better Decisions
 
Decision Skills Can be Learned
 
Decisions Versus Outcomes
 
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER
 
2 The Requirements for Decision Quality
 
The Appropriate Frame
 
Creative Alternatives
 
Relevant and Reliable Information
 
Clear Values and Tradeoffs
 
Sound Reasoning
 
Commitment to Action
 
JUDGING THE QUALITY OF A DECISION
 
Key Points to Remember
 
Endnotes
 
3 Getting to Decision Quality
 
Declaring the Need for a Decision
 
Setting the Decision Agenda
 
Understanding the Destination of Decision Quality
 
Avoiding Decision Traps and biases
 
Designing the Decision Process through Diagnosis
 
Tailoring to fit the decision
 
KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER
 
Endnotes
 
Part II The Six Requirements for DQ
 
4 The Appropriate Frame
 
A Friday Afternoon Dilemma
 
The Key Components of a frame
 
Framing the Friday Afternoon Dilemma
 
An Extended Example: THE House Decision
 
Developing an Appropriate Frame
 
The Decision Hierarchy: A Tool for Framing
 
Things that Can Go Wrong
 
Judging the Quality of a Decision Frame
 
Key Points to Remember
 
Endnotes
 
5 Creative Alternatives
 
Characteristics of Good Alternatives
 
The Strategy Table: A Tool for Defining Alternatives
 
Things that Can Go Wrong
 
Judging the Quality of Alternatives
 
Key Points to Remember
 
Endnotes
 
6 Relevant and Reliable Information
 
INFORMATION FROM A DECISION PERSPECTIVE
 
An Extended Example: Michael's Job Choice
 
STRUCTURING THE RELEVANT INFORMATION IN A DECISION
 
The Decision

Dr. Carl Spetzler (Palo Alto, CA; www.sdg.com) is the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Strategic Decisions Group (SDG), a leading strategy consulting firm renowned for its expertise in strategic decision-making. Carl Spetzler is the program director of the Stanford Strategic Decision and Risk Management Professional Certificate Program, a partnership of SDG and the Stanford Center for Professional Development. He serves on the boards of IIT and the Decision Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the decision-making skills of youth. In 2004, Carl received The Ramsey Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS for lifetime contributions to the field. In 2006, he was elected to the SRI Hall of Fame for his leadership in the growth of decision analysis at SRI and for his key role in instigating a fundamental change in the US financial service industry. He was the first president of the Society of Decision Professionals and is an active Fellow in that Society. Carl has taught thousands of decision makers and decision professionals over the past 40 years, in classrooms, in corporations, and online.
 

Hannah I. Winter is a partner with Strategic Decisions Group, where she has been a strategy consultant and educator for over 20 years. She co-directs SDG's Executive Education practice, for which she develops and leads courses and education programs designed to build individual capability in decision quality and risk management. She oversees the firm's Strategic Decision and Risk Management education partnership with Stanford University's Center for Professional Development. Under her leadership, the program has grown to more than 8,000 participants and 1,000 graduates. In addition, dozens of technology, life sciences, and energy corporations have incorporated SDRM courses into their in-house training curriculum. She frequently delivers lectures and presentations to international audiences on the