Strategic Decision Making

A few years ago, I found myself in a situation that didn’t fit any of the “playbooks” I had relied on for years. I was leading a high-stakes project that suddenly shifted direction due to external forces that no one on the team had anticipated. No amount of analysis, planning, or expertise seemed enough. What helped was gathering the team and agreeing on a few guiding principles — not the answers themselves, but THE WAY we would make decisions, adapt, and move forward together. Reading this Harvard Business Review piece by Nitin Nohria, Bill George and Kayty Stanley on complex vs. complicated problems reminded me of that experience. As the authors suggest, we need a different mindset when facing complexity. COMPLICATED problems can be solved with expertise. COMPLEX problems must be navigated with intuition, resilience, and creativity. The article recounts how Corie Barry, CEO of Best Buy, led through the early chaos of Covid-19 not by trying to "solve" the pandemic but by embracing its complexity. Instead of chasing clarity where none existed, she and her team set three guiding principles: prioritize safety, avoid layoffs when possible, and focus on long-term value — even if that meant letting go of short-term earnings goals. This approach worked because Barry understood that COMPLEX problems — unlike COMPLICATED ones — don’t have tidy solutions. They require: (1) Sensemaking, not just solving. (2) Principles, not rigid plans. (3) Iteration, not a one-time fix. The article lays out thoughtful strategies for leading through complexity: - Building on your organization’s core mission and values. - Understanding the problem’s full, evolving nature. - Continuously adapting to the shifting context. - Creating real-time feedback loops. - Broadly engaging stakeholders, even when it's messy. - Preparing leaders to thrive in ambiguity, not just certainty. In today's world, recognizing whether a challenge is complicated or complex is really important. Effective leadership matters a great deal, especially when solving for complex problems. #problemSolving #challenge #complexity #creativity #learning #ambiguity #uncertainty https://lnkd.in/e_Qm2tkZ

A topic that has come up recently in some of my manager development programs is how to lead during times of change and uncertainty (which, let's face it, feels like the norm these days). The core question is this: How do you show up and lead others during periods of uncertainty and change when you yourself may feel uncertain about the changes happening? When one person asks this question, many others nod in agreement, highlighting the universality of what many leaders are experiencing today. In the hopes of sparking further conversations between your leaders and their peers on this topic, I wanted to share a few key ideas we discussed as potential actions for leaders to try: 📌Put on your oxygen mask first - As the saying goes, take care of yourself first. Before you respond to others, make sure you are in a good place personally amidst the change and uncertainty. It can be challenging to support others when you’re not taking care of yourself. Take time to reflect, seek support, or journal—whatever helps you process the situation. But before you lead, start with yourself. 📌 Map out what’s within your control - It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by uncertainty, but in reality, some things are within your control, and others are not. Define what’s in your control and focus your energy there. It’s not easy, but it helps reduce the stress of feeling powerless. 📌 Meet people where they are - Everyone has their own relationship with change and their own ways of coping with fear, uncertainty, and change. Your goal is to understand where each person is individually and meet them there, helping them move in the right direction. This requires listening and personalizing your approach to each individual. 📌Turn outward (and encourage others to do the same) -  During challenging times, it’s natural to want to turn inward and isolate yourself. While it’s completely reasonable to take care of yourself, remember the saying, “don’t suffer in silence.” If there’s uncertainty or change happening, you’re likely not the only one feeling it. Turn outward to your peers and colleagues. As a leader, model this behavior, and encourage your team to connect with their peers as well, if they feel comfortable. Many of society’s challenges have been solved through collaboration, and this situation will be no different. If you have other ideas or practices that are helping your leaders navigate change and uncertainty, I’d love to hear what you’re doing or trying! #leadership #leadershipdevelopment

First-time leaders: You're handling your manager's requests wrong by saying YES to everything. ⁣⁣ Every time you automatically agree to a task, you're setting yourself up for later problems: - Strategic priorities get diluted - Revenue-generating projects get delayed - Quality of execution suffers The way I respond to requests is fundamentally different. There's a difference between saying 'No, I can't' which means 'I've done no work, I'm too lazy to think about it... vs taking the hard path and coming up with a solution. Here's what effective leadership looks like: 1️⃣ Clarify the business impact: "I can do this, but here's what's going to get moved” Or “Here's what I can do without moving anything, but it'll be reduced scope." 2️⃣ Connect to objectives: Think through the ask - how does it relate to the overall company goals we're trying to achieve versus what's on your plate? Your manager might think they're asking for a quick 5-minute task when it's a mountain of work! They won't see this unless you show the full picture of your current priorities and bandwidth. ⁣⁣ This approach prevents three common failures: (1) Putting everything on your list until burnout (2) Doing each thing poorly (making you look bad) (3) Missing critical revenue opportunities. Share below: what’s your no. 1 priority for this quarter? 

During a high stress moment of frustration, a CEO harshly told one of my students: “I need you to be a thought partner, not another task manager!” She swallowed the lump in her throat as she exited the video call, but... she knew he had a point. 😕 She’d been burning herself out checking boxes, clearing tasks, reacting to requests. And, in doing so, she was unintentionally making herself smaller (and less effective). The difference between a support person (tactical/ a task manager) and a Chief of Staff (strategic/ a thought partner) is about 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼. ➡️ So she made a shift, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦, and started operating like  a true thought partner. Here’s how that’s done: 1️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Instead of asking, “What do you need me to do?” she started showing up with recommendations (bringing solutions to the agenda, not just problems) 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬:  when you become aware of or identify a problem or issue that needs a decision, 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝟮-𝟯 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲. 2️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸𝘀. When her CEO asked for updates, she didn’t just list what she’d done, she explained how it moved their org-wide goals forward. 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬:  Before every task or project you work on, ask yourself, “How is what I’m doing helping us win long-term?” Then document that so you have proof of your impact. 3️⃣ She built the habit of challenging upward. This one felt scary at first, but she learned to respectfully push back and ask her CEO tough questions like: 🤔 “What tradeoff are we making if we choose this option?” 🤔 “How will this decision impact the team next quarter?” 🤔 “Is this the best use of your time right now?” Her boss…? He loved it!! 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳. It will work for you too. Start thinking like the person in the room who’s helping make the decisions, not just carry them out.

Investing in both vision and execution is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, aspects of leadership. Absent execution, a leader’s vision is simply a dream. At the same time, marching off to execute without a clear vision begets confusion and even chaos.  Early in my career, it was often my job to help leaders create and articulate their vision, and then to collaborate across their organizations to bring the vision to life. Crystalizing a vision into a compelling national or institutional mandate is hard enough as it is. Making it a reality is even rarer. In those formative professional years, I had a front-row seat to great leaders and big successes, but more often, vision statements failed to leave the whiteboard. Disappointment follows when ambition isn’t met with a strategy for action. It takes significant, sustained commitment from the top to bring a strategy or vision to life. Learning this lesson early profoundly shaped my approach to leadership. Taking a hands-off approach to execution is tempting–nugging through execution isn’t nearly as exciting to most leaders as pronouncing initiatives–but is a major pitfall. So, how do you ensure your execution can bring your vision to life? Adaptability is key. The world doesn’t stand still. Market shifts, technological advancements, workforce changes—these factors demand that leaders refine their approach while staying true to their mission. A rigid vision, no matter how compelling, won’t survive an evolving landscape. Understand the relevant institutional cultures and incentives. In any sizable organization, execution happens through other people. Translating your vision into outcomes that can help advance their goals creates momentum. When people see the personal and organizational advantage in executing a strategy, they become champions of the mission. Questions I always ask myself include: What drives the team? What motivates stakeholders? Sell the mission advantage. While every stakeholder has different priorities, they all contribute to the bigger picture. When they see how the vision benefits not just the organization but also their own objectives, execution becomes second nature. In my experience, it is a cycle: Vision → Execution → Assessment → Evaluation → Refinement of Vision. The best leaders don’t just set direction; they ensure that every step forward brings the vision closer to reality. #Leadership #Strategy #Execution

➡️Are your leadership decisions structured or reactive? ➡️Do you find yourself stuck in decision fatigue, struggling with competing priorities? ➡️Want to know how high-impact leaders cut through the noise and make strategic, confident choices? I just published a new article sharing proven decision-making frameworks that top leaders use to navigate complexity and drive results. These models have helped me lead high-performing teams in healthcare and beyond—and now, I’m sharing them with you. Inside the article, you’ll discover: ✅ The OODA Loop—Make rapid, informed decisions in fast-paced environments. ✅ The Eisenhower Matrix—Prioritize tasks like a pro and eliminate time-wasters. ✅ The SWOT Analysis—See the bigger picture before making key strategic moves. ✅ The 5 Whys—Uncover the root cause of recurring problems and solve them for good. ✅ How to choose the right framework for the right situation! Decision-making is a skill you can master. When you apply the right framework at the right time, you gain clarity, confidence, and better outcomes. Which decision-making framework do you use the most? #Leadershiptidbits #CareerGrowth #StandOutWithIntent #LeadershipDevelopment

Navigating Leadership in Turbulent Times- A few days ago, I had an interesting conversation with a friend about how Non Profits are facing this period of  unknowns and instability. For organizational leaders, the role we play in guiding our teams and ensuring the stability and resilience of our organizations has never been more critical. Here are a few things I learned about leading through uncertainty- 1. Focus with Intent We are constantly being hit with a barrage of incoherent tweets, rash decisions, and contradictory messaging that can feel overwhelming. Reacting to everything will leave us scattered, unfocused, and ineffective. Leaders must prioritize their organizational goals and focus on what they are best equipped to address. 🔑 Choose your battles wisely and resist the urge to 'play whack-a-mole' with every issue. Not every fight is yours to take on, and sometimes, the wisest move is not to fight at all. Focused leadership drives meaningful impact. 2. Embrace Collaboration - In this season of uncertainty, collaboration is not optional—it’s essential. Community and partnerships have always propelled movements forward. 🤝 Build a collaborative work culture, encouraging your team to cultivate strong relationships both internally and externally.  Collaboration builds trust, and allows people to build upon their strengths and leads to better decisions and outcomes.   3. Flexibility & Adaptability -"Be stubborn about your goals but flexible about how you achieve them." Strategy is not a fixed plan but an evolving path to reach a predetermined destination. Recognize when adjustments are needed and model adaptability for your team. 📣 Communicate openly with staff about changes and align around shared objectives, even if absolute agreement isn’t always possible. Pathways can emerge when teams are nimble and solutions-oriented. 4. Support Your Staff- Amid external crises, organizational trust often becomes strained. Now is the time to double down on creating a supportive environment for your team.  Focus on the short-term goals and the long-term mission when conflict arises. Look for areas of agreement to rally around. 💡 Consider what your organization can offer during this period, whether that’s flexible policies, open communication channels, or empathetic leadership. Teams perform best when they feel valued and supported. 5. Safeguard Your Organization - If your mission runs counter to the incoming administration’s policies, preparation is key. 📋 Run a risk assessment and review your policies/processes to ensure compliance and readiness. Develop clear protocols and maintain a strong relationship with your legal counsel.  A proactive approach will protect your organization from unnecessary risks. I can say from experience that leadership in turbulent times isn’t easy, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to model resilience, inspire focus, and foster collaboration.

As a Decision Engineer, I've spent 15 years studying how people make choices. Here's what most get wrong: They think a pros/cons list is enough. While Ben Franklin's method is a good start, it fails in 3 critical ways: → It breaks down with multiple options → It doesn't account for weighted importance → It creates confusion over what's truly a "pro" vs "con" Here's a better approach I learned at Stanford from Professor Ron Howard, one of the pioneers of decision analysis: Every decision has 3 core components: 1️⃣ Objectives (what matters to you) 2️⃣ Options (what you're choosing between) 3️⃣ Information (how options fulfill objectives) How to get them all on one page? Use a decision matrix: → List objectives down one side → Put options across the top → Rate how each option fulfills each objective But here's the most important thing I've learned: The quality of your decision is separate from the quality of the outcome. You can make a perfect decision and still get an unwanted result due to factors outside your control. What matters isn't finding the "perfect" choice - it's having a clear process to evaluate what matters most to you. What's your biggest decision-making challenge? #DecisionEngineering #Leadership #DecisionMaking

𝟕 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐈 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 Annie Duke's 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 and Alliance for Decision Education 👇 Working in private equity (PE) has taught me that 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. When stakes are high, I’ve found that 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚���𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠. After taking Annie Duke’s “Make Better Decisions” course on Maven, I’ve added a toolkit that has changed how I approach investments, partnerships, and growth strategies. Here are my top 7 takeaways: 1️⃣ Judge by Process, Not Outcome Outcomes can be deceiving—𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 can sometimes mask a weak decision. Now, I focus on the process, asking: “𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝐼 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘𝑠?” This shift helps me learn, regardless of how deals turn out. 2️⃣ Document What You Know In complex deals, it’s easy to forget details over time. By documenting what I know at decision points, I can reflect 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑠. 𝑃𝑟𝑜 𝑡𝑖𝑝: Write down your rationale before moving forward on a major choice. 3️⃣ Think Counterfactually I now ask, “𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑?” This practice is invaluable for understanding alternate outcomes in past investments, helping me refine future strategies. 4️⃣ Separate Luck from Skill Not all wins (or losses) are due to skill. This lesson taught me to differentiate results influenced by 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘 from those driven by 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑦, allowing me to refine my approach and focus on replicable processes. 5️⃣ Practice “Decision Hygiene” Biases can sneak in, especially in fast-moving environments. Practicing “decision hygiene” helps me recognize and minimize these biases before making final calls, 𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦. 6️⃣ Set “Decision Hygiene” Over-analysis can paralyze progress. By setting boundaries for information gathering, I stay decisive, which is essential in PE. 𝑃𝑟𝑜 𝑡𝑖𝑝: Decide on a time limit for information gathering upfront. 7️⃣ Embrace Probabilities In investment, nothing is guaranteed. Learning to work with 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 rather than certainties has helped me make more confident choices, even with incomplete data. 🎁 For those interested in actionable strategies, I’m sharing a 𝐂𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭. I hope it adds value to your investment and decision-making process! _______________________ Making a meaningful impact drives me—through strategic investments, sustainable growth, and community-focused change. If you're passionate about creating real-world impact, let’s connect! DM me to chat more. #DecisionMaking #PrivateEquity #ContinuousLearning #ProfessionalDevelopment #Education

Let me share a personal story that changed my perspective on data's role in decision-making. Picture this: I'm on the New York subway platform, staring at the digital display. "Next train: 6 minutes." Useful? A bit. But I've already swiped my card and committed to this train line. All I can do is figure out how to best use the wait time. This is classic Business Intelligence (BI) - information that's useful but not action-oriented. Now, fast forward a few years. The MTA installs displays outside the stations. Seeing a 6-minute wait for the local train, I now have a choice. It's a 4-minute walk to the express station. Stay or go? This is Decision Intelligence (DI) - the power of right place, right time delivery. The same principle applies to our role as CDOs. We often pour resources into creating insights, reports, and metrics, but then neglect that crucial last mile - getting the right information to the right person at the right time. Here's how we can shift from BI to DI in our organizations: 1. Identify Key Decision Points Where in the business cycle are your stakeholders making critical decisions? That's where your data products need to be integrated and ready to use. 2. Focus on Actionable Insights Don't just report what happened. What's relevant to the decision-maker? Is your insight in the "good to know" category or the "option A is vastly better" category? 3. Optimize the Last Mile Think about how you're delivering insights. Are they embedded in the decision-making process or sitting in a separate report? This shift isn't just about technology - it's about positioning data as a profit enabler, not a support function - from data aware to data driven. This is how we move from being seen as a cost centre to becoming a strategic partner directly contributing to the core objectives of the business. *** 2500+ data executives are subscribed to the 'Leading with Data' newsletter. Every Friday morning, I'll email you 1 actionable tip to accelerate the business potential of your data & make it an organisational priority. Would you like to subscribe? Click on ‘View My Blog’ right below my name at the start of this post.