Tag Archives: decision making
Your little voice may give you better advice than you know.
Have you ever wondered how certain corrupt businesspeople can keep spouting great, moral words while doing the exact opposite in their behavior? You wonder how they can wax eloquent about the need to give customers high-quality products while they happily … Continue reading
Who's surprised by compact car sales? Spotting trends. In advance.
The New York Times reported that sales of smaller compacts and subcompacts are on the rise, now that we’re in a gas crunch. Industry analysts (who are young enough that they don’t remember the 70s) are calling this “a first.” … Continue reading
Is there any place for using data and observation in the book?
I’d value your thoughts. I just wrote a fairly rambling post about my frustration at how we ignore data in favor of superstition, and that could lead to stuff like, oh, the collapse of modern society.
Science has worked so well that superstition now reigns supreme
I grew up in the era of the Apollo moon launches. One of my earliest memories is traveling to Cape Canaveral and watching from the beach as one of the missions was launched towards the moon. It was pretty incredible. … Continue reading
Do you improve your decision quality over time?
In my business blog today, I got a little, er, hot about tax season. In my footnote, I flamed on about the 2004 elections, noting: One thing I’m sure of: none of you stopped to analyze the quality of your … Continue reading
Thinking ahead. How far? And how certain?
At a recent physical exam, my weight was a tad above what I want it to be (probably all muscle, but you can never be too sure). So I went web surfing a bit about weight gain trends and found … Continue reading
How far ahead do you plan?
As I write this, oil prices topped $78. In January of 2005, gas was selling for around $1.75/gallon. Now, it’s over $3. For any business that depends on transportation or petroleum, we just doubled that line item. Are you assuming … Continue reading
Make Your own Luck – a great guide for decision-making under uncertainty
I just finished Make Your Own Luck by Eileen Shapiro and Howard Stevenson. What a great book! My background is in engineering and science, then business. As an engineer, I really liked that there’s a “right answer.” Or at least, … Continue reading
