115. Making good decisions: Intro

Since we've established good governance as actively creating conditions to maximize the likelihood that effective decisions will get made, let's start exploring what it means to make good decisions. Over the next five episodes, we'll use the first chapter of Decisive by the Heath Brothers as our textbook. Download a free copy here: https://heathbrothers.com/member-content/decisive-chapter-1/

As always, the background music is Of the Stars by KC Roberts & the Live Revolution.

SCRIPT:

I’ve spent the last 114 episodes talking about corporate governance as the way decisions get made in a corporation, and the first chunk of this season talking about good governance as creating the conditions for effective decisions to get made, but what does that even mean? Well, this is one question where we – meaning YOU – have access a rich trove of scientific research and real-world evidence, so you won’t have to just trust me and OMG to get you there. And lots of organizations apply what we’ve learned from all those insights to empower MANAGERS to make good decisions. Think of all the cool ways that meetings have changed over the years, or workspaces, or onboarding, or offsites. The thing is, no matter how well these new approaches work, they basically never find their way into boardrooms. Board processes, structures, rules of order, agendas, boardroom layouts…they all just basically stay the same, or close enough to the same that the impact on decisions is essentially nothing. And you know what? The moment you start paying attention, I bet you’ll basically see and feel boardroom decisions suffering as a result. Over the next few episodes, we’ll go over a few important elements of good – and bad – decision conditions. Our textbook, so to speak, will be the first chapter of the book Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath. Your homework is to read it before the next episode comes out in a few days. You can download a free copy by following the link in the episode description. I’ll also put some links to some other cool articles on decision making in case you’re interested. Have fun!