An updated edition of the international bestseller that distills into a single volume the fifty best decision-making models.
The Decision Book – Every day, we face the same questions: How do I make the right decision? How can I work more efficiently? And, on a more personal level, what do I want?
This updated edition of the international bestseller distills into a single volume the fifty best decision-making models used in MBA courses, and elsewhere, that will help you tackle these important questions. In minutes you can become conversant with:
The Long Tail • The Maslow Pyramids • SWOT Analysis • The Rubber Band Model • The Prisoner’s Dilemma • Cognitive Dissonance • The Eisenhower Matrix • Conflict Resolution • Flow • The Personal Potential Trap • and many more.
Stylish and compact, this little book is a powerful asset. Whether you need to plan a presentation, assess someone’s business idea, or get to know yourself better, this unique guide―bursting with useful visual tools―will help you simplify any problem and make the best decision.58 illustrations
Table of Contents
Book Review by Peter
Strategic Decision Making Tools
The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking is not really a book to read from cover to cover. This is more a reference book, and is structured into 4 main categories:
How to improve yourself (13 models)
How to understand yourself better (17 models)
How to understand others better (15 models)
How to improve others (5 models)
With 60% of the models geared towards looking internally at personal development and decision making, and the other 40% on how you work with others, it’s really a book about YOU. In the title, the association with decision making and strategic thinking is the real essence of the book. Don’t think about this book in terms of business models such as Ansoff Matrix, or PEST, or Porters 5 Forces etc.
Models are a great way of visualising ideas, organising, planning, and conveying thoughts and strategies to others. The models presented in this book are as good as the effort you are prepared to put in. Remember planning is everything the plan is nothing. If the development of knowledge is the continuous application of learning you will get an opportunity to use, and therefore become more knowledgeable with some of these models more than others.
The book offers a comprehensive list of models, some are very straightforward but some could have done with a bit more explanation and even an example. I also believe with a lot of personal/business model books it’s important to reiterate that circumstances, external forces and the business itself are always changing and responding to personal and market needs. As a consequence, you should always return to your models and redo, rather than accept the results from the previous time.
I really like approaches that visualise concepts or plans to help with realisation or explanation, so I would recommend this book as a useful resource in your library.
About the Author
Mikael Krogerus is freelance journalist and an editor with Das Magazin, the weekly supplement to Switzerland’s biggest newspaper.
Roman Tschäppeler is the founder of the consulting and multimedia firm Guzo, based in Biel-Benne, Switzerland. He attended the Kaospilot School in Denmark.
