How the Wise Decide is akin to sitting down for a mentoring session with some of the great leaders of recent years. Its common sense lessons on decision-making, clear writing, and practical guidelines make it a wise choice for both people just starting their careers as well as those with years of experience under their belt.
- Frank Blake, Chairman & CEO, Home Depot
Bryn Zeckhauser and Aaron Sandoski offer a rich collection of insights on how leaders make and implement important decisions, distilled from an impressively wide range of major decision makers. The discussion of risk, risk mitigation and incentives is particularly useful. The importance of transparency and its relation to self-selection is very interesting. And the commentary on the no-carry over principle and the pocket veto just fascinating.
- A. Michael Spence, former Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business and winner of the Nobel Prize in economics
What is wisdom? How is it acquired? Can it be codified? Can it be learned? Bryn Zeckhauser and Aaron Sandoski have attacked these questions head-on by focusing on how 21 remarkable leaders make decisions. They discern some fascinating patterns, which form the basis for concrete and practical advice. Zeckhauser and Sandoski have done us a great service by picking these people to study and helping us learn from them. Every reader can benefit from reading How the Wise Decide since we all can certainly use a dose of wisdom.
- William A. Sahlman, Dimitri V. D'Arbeloff - MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
How the Wise Decide thoughtfully examines principles that inform effective decision-making and shows how successful leaders have used them to make critical decisions. In a series of interesting and well-researched lessons, Bryn Zeckhauser and Aaron Sandoski offer practical advice and a method that all managers can use to improve their decision-making.
- Roger W. Ferguson Jr., President and CEO, TIAA-CREF
The most difficult dilemma in business is how to make the tough decisions. How the Wise Decide provides compelling examples from our greatest leaders as to how they source information, deal with risk and let their long-term vision guide them in making the tough calls. For anyone who wants to be a wise decision-maker, the first choice should be to buy this book.
- Sarah Levy, COO, Nickelodeon
A very insightful study by Zeckhauser and Sandoski that brings to life the way world class leaders cultivate and leverage wisdom to make timely, effective, high impact decisions.
- Douglas R. Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company
How the Wise Decide is an insightful journey taking us into the minds of 21 of the world's greatest leaders who share their well-earned wisdom on the critical skill of wise decision-making. Zeckhauser and Sandoski provide a practical 'lessons learned' guide, a valuable road map for all of us faced with the formidable challenge of making those tough make-or-break decisions.
- Christina Gold, President & CEO, The Western Union Company
This is such fascinating reading, and such a simple idea, that I cannot understand why it hasn't been done before.
- Thomas Schelling, Nobel Prize winner and author of The Strategy of Conflict