S4E05 - Carl Spetzler on the six links of decision quality

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.

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— Michelle Florendo
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S4E04 - Alexis Gonzales-Black on org decision making and inclusive processes

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S4E06 - Amy Day on decision skills for parents and emerging adults