Synopses & Reviews
Decide & Conquer brings together all the practical skills you need to make the best possible decisions every day. This quick, concise book identifies every key obstacle to quality decision-making... and shows exactly how to overcome them. Discover how your personality impacts your decision-making... why instincts and experience can lead you astray... how to simplify complicated decisions without oversimplifying them... and much more. You'll use these techniques in your relationships, your finances, your career ... every day, everywhere.
Synopsis
Robbins identifies the major roadblocks that stand in the way of making high-quality decisions -- and shows readers exactly how to overcome them.
About the Author
DR. STEPHEN P. ROBBINS is the world's best-selling textbook author in the areas of management and organizational behavior. His books have sold more than two million copies, are currently used by students at more than one thousand U.S. colleges and universities, and are widely read worldwide. Robbins'
Organizational Behavior, Tenth Edition (Prentice Hall) is the market leader throughout Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, India, China, and Scandinavia. He is also author of the global best seller
The Truth About Managing People... and Nothing But the Truth.
Dr. Robbins holds a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona and has served in management roles for Shell and Reynolds Metals. Currently professor emeritus at San Diego State University, Dr. Robbins' research interests have focused on conflict, power, and politics in organizations, behavioral decision making, and the development of effective interpersonal skills. His articles on these and other topics have appeared in Business Horizons, California Management Review, Business and Economic Perspectives, International Management, Management Review, The Journal of Management Education, and other leading journals.
An avid participant in masters' track and field, Dr. Robbins has set numerous indoor and outdoor age-group world sprint records since turning 50 in 1993. He has won more than a dozen indoor and outdoor U.S. national titles at 60m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, and has won seven gold medals at the World Masters Championships.
Table of Contents
Preface.
I. Introduction. 1. Decision Making Shapes Your Life.
2. The Search for Rationality.
3. Why It's Hard to Be Rational.
II. How Do You Make Decisions? 4. What's Your Decision Style?
5. Are You a Risk Taker?
6. Who Controls Your Destiny?
7. Do You Procrastinate?
8. Are You Impulsive?
9. Can You Control Your Emotions?
10. Are You Overconfident?
11. Understanding Your Personality Profile.
III. Common Biases and Errors That Most of Us Make (and How to Overcome Them). 12. How Can You Be So Darn Sure About That? Coping with Overconfidence.
13. Never Do Today That Which You Can Do Tomorrow: The Inertia Bias.
14. I Want It, and I Want it NOW! The Immediate Gratification Bias.
15. Where You End Up Depends on Where You Start: The Anchoring Effect.
16. I'll See It When I Believe It: The Selective Perception Bias.
17. I Hear What I Want to Hear: The Confirmation Bias.
18. Is the Glass Half-Empty or Half-Full? The Framing Bias.
19. What Have You Done for Me Lately? The Availability Bias.
20. Looks Can Be Deceiving: The Representation Bias.
21. Seeing Patterns That Aren't There: Coping with Randomness.
22. Gone Is Not Always Forgotten: Understanding Sunk Costs.
23. Keep It Simple: The Limited Search Error.
24. Losing Your Head in the Heat of Battle: The Emotional Involvement Error.
25. Who You Gonna Blame? The Self-Serving Bias.
26. I Knew It All The Time: The Hindsight Bias.
IV. Advice Your Mother Never Gave You. 27. Clear Goals and Preferences Make Choosing a Lot Easier.
28. Choosing Not to Decide Is Still a Decision.
29. Decisions Are Not Made in Isolation.
30. All Decisions Aren't Important.
31. More Information Isn't Necessarily Better.
32. Don't Rehash Past Decisions.
33. Successful People Take Risks.
34. It's OK to Make Mistakes, or No One Has an Undefeated Season.
35. Experience Can Improve Decisions, but…
36. Where You're from Influences How You Decide.
An Epilogue. 37. Summary or Why Ignorance Isn't Bliss.
End Notes.