S4E05 - Carl Spetzler on the six links of decision quality

Season 4

Aug 5

How can you know you've made a good decision, even before you know how things turn out? It’s all about understanding decision quality.

To talk about that, I invited award-winning decision quality expert, Carl Spetzler onto today's show. Carl is the co-founder and chairman of Strategic Decisions group, a leading strategy consulting firm, renowned for its expertise in strategic decision making for greater value creation. He also literally wrote the book on decision quality along with his colleagues, Hannah Winter and Jennifer Meyer.

Today, we talk about how the concept of decision quality has helped companies make better decisions when millions and billions of dollars are on the line, how you can employ the six links of decision quality to be confident you are making a good decision, as well as other tips for making better decisions.

Topics Covered

2:49 The early days of decision analysis and engineering economics
6:17 Applications of decision quality in the corporate world
7:55 Applications of decision quality in everyday life
11:28 How to have a good decision at the time you make it
11:35 Appropriate frame
14:08 Creative alternatives
14:45 Values
16:14 Information
17:12 Sound reasoning
17:53 Commitment to action
21:05 Your decision is only as good as the weakest link
22:06 How to use the six links when you need to make decisions quickly
23:58 Having the right decision agenda
25:34 Pay attention to how you relate to clarity and action

Guest Bio

Carl Spetzler is the co-founder and chairman of Strategic Decisions Group, a leading strategy consulting firm renowned for its expertise in strategic decision-making for greater value creation. He is also the lead author of Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions (Wiley, 2016) with coauthors Hannah Winter and Jennifer Meyer.

He serves on the board of the Decision Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the decision-making skills of youth. In 2004, Dr. Spetzler received The Ramsey Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS for lifetime contributions to the field.

Resources mentioned

Strategic Decisions Group
Society of Decision Professionals
Decision Education Foundation
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

To learn more from Michelle about decision making, check out

The Ask A Decision Engineer website
Her Stanford Continuing Studies course
Her self-paced course Decision Toolkit for Personal Decisions
Her Decision Toolkit for Coaches and Counselors virtual workshop on Maven

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About Michelle Florendo

Michelle Florendo is a distinguished decision engineer and executive coach who specializes in helping individuals navigate complex decisions in both personal and professional spheres. With a Bachelor of Science in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, Michelle employs a sophisticated blend of decision engineering, design thinking, and lean startup methodologies to assist her clients in charting their optimal path forward. She has guided hundreds of driven professionals in applying decision engineering principles to achieve greater clarity and reduce stress in their decision-making processes.

She currently teaches a decision-making course for Stanford Continuing Studies and has played a pivotal role in enhancing the curriculum on career decision-making in Stanford's renowned Design Your Life course. Her expertise has been recognized by various prestigious organizations, as evidenced by her involvement with Seth Godin's altMBA program, her founding membership in the Forbes Coaches Council, and her position as a faculty coach for the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute. For those interested in exploring Michelle's coaching and speaking services further, additional information can be found on her professional website at poweredbydecisions.com.