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Decision Making In Uncertain Times: How can we become more aware of the consequences of our actions on tomorrow?
No matter how we articulate a problem, challenge, or opportunity, one undeniable truth persists—uncertainty permeates every facet. It's omnipresent, indifferent to the framing we employ, whether the issue is simple, technical, complex, or wicked. From the most straightforward operational decisions to intricate strategic manoeuvres, every plan and its execution is a relentless pursuit of problem-solving amidst uncertainty. This Book will help you as you boldly confront the unknown in every endeavour you face.
Decision Making in Uncertain Times is a thought-provoking, engaging, often humorous exploration of business possibility. Written by Tony Fish, an experienced and multifaceted neuro-minority business leader. This book is crafted with expertise and innovation and made accessible through creative metaphors and insightful graphics.
Tony draws on wisdom accumulated through 30 years of leadership experience, real-world conversations, and a range of disciplines, including human psychology, investing, governance and broader social and cultural themes, to propose frameworks to previously considered unanswerable leadership dilemmas.
The book proposes new and real-world applicable models to meet emerging business strategy and management challenges, such as questioning if KPIs are the nemesis of innovation. It challenges previously unchallenged and long-standing assumptions about how business works /this is how we do things, in a short, succinct & impactful way, by bringing these concepts to life. In the process, it reconsiders known issues around data ownership and governance, risk management, and performance measurement.
Tony considers the opportunities and challenges we face from the climate crisis, AI, and an increasingly digital-driven world bring, by introducing crucially important new frameworks for driving innovation in our current age, and asks us to reconsider which stakeholders are important to a business (read - this ‘business ecosystem’ is much broader than you might first think)—leading him to argue for a reimagining of how we manage business, suggesting ideas we must consider, and how we develop those ideas in the face of a rapidly changing world.
In this book, Tony introduces his concepts of ‘Quantum Risk’ and ‘Peak Paradox’. Quantum risk applies characteristics from quantum science to the concept of risk, to alert an unknowing audience to risk in its modern-day, shapeshifting, entangled forms. The narrative of business dependencies and human tendencies is essential to understand this concept, and it is further described in this book. Similarly, Peak Paradox provides a new lens for approaching decision making, asking us to dissect and utilise the extremes of individual, organisational and societal purpose and perception to make business decision-making truly successful.
Why a reader should read the book
This book is a useful, practical tool for leading an organisation, providing you with exciting novel ways to approach the evolving yet age-old challenges of business risk, data management, data use, and data governance. It is designed to help you understand and navigate such challenges and advance your ability to question current dominating views within them. This book will show you how, and encourage you to build an attentive management plan, push boundaries and step your business forward.
By delving deeply into key business issues for which difficult decisions and judgements are required, this book provides you with well-explained, practical tools for decision making in various business contexts. As such, it is an invaluable modern playbook to help guide critical business choices that leaders and directors are asked to make.
Decision Making in Uncertain Times is a thought-provoking, engaging, often humorous exploration of business possibility. Written by Tony Fish, an experienced and multifaceted neuro-minority business leader. This book is crafted with expertise and innovation and made accessible through creative metaphors and insightful graphics.
Tony draws on wisdom accumulated through 30 years of leadership experience, real-world conversations, and a range of disciplines, including human psychology, investing, governance and broader social and cultural themes, to propose frameworks to previously considered unanswerable leadership dilemmas.
The book proposes new and real-world applicable models to meet emerging business strategy and management challenges, such as questioning if KPIs are the nemesis of innovation. It challenges previously unchallenged and long-standing assumptions about how business works /this is how we do things, in a short, succinct & impactful way, by bringing these concepts to life. In the process, it reconsiders known issues around data ownership and governance, risk management, and performance measurement.
Tony considers the opportunities and challenges we face from the climate crisis, AI, and an increasingly digital-driven world bring, by introducing crucially important new frameworks for driving innovation in our current age, and asks us to reconsider which stakeholders are important to a business (read - this ‘business ecosystem’ is much broader than you might first think)—leading him to argue for a reimagining of how we manage business, suggesting ideas we must consider, and how we develop those ideas in the face of a rapidly changing world.
In this book, Tony introduces his concepts of ‘Quantum Risk’ and ‘Peak Paradox’. Quantum risk applies characteristics from quantum science to the concept of risk, to alert an unknowing audience to risk in its modern-day, shapeshifting, entangled forms. The narrative of business dependencies and human tendencies is essential to understand this concept, and it is further described in this book. Similarly, Peak Paradox provides a new lens for approaching decision making, asking us to dissect and utilise the extremes of individual, organisational and societal purpose and perception to make business decision-making truly successful.
Why a reader should read the book
This book is a useful, practical tool for leading an organisation, providing you with exciting novel ways to approach the evolving yet age-old challenges of business risk, data management, data use, and data governance. It is designed to help you understand and navigate such challenges and advance your ability to question current dominating views within them. This book will show you how, and encourage you to build an attentive management plan, push boundaries and step your business forward.
By delving deeply into key business issues for which difficult decisions and judgements are required, this book provides you with well-explained, practical tools for decision making in various business contexts. As such, it is an invaluable modern playbook to help guide critical business choices that leaders and directors are asked to make.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 4, 2024
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Tony Fish
5 books3 followersTony Fish is neuro-minority (diverse) and is a leading expert on decision-making in uncertain environments, corporate governance and sustainability. MBA C-ENG, FIET, FBCS, FCIM, FRSA
He thrives in complex, ground-breaking & uncertain environments, bringing proven judgement and decision skills with cross-sectorial experience. His 30-year track record of sense-making and foresight means he has been ahead on several technical revolutions. His enthusiasm and drive are contagious & inspiring.
In addition to speaking at over 300 events and conferences on data, innovation, entrepreneurship, digital trends and early-stage growth, he has written and published six books. Tony remains a visiting Fellow at Henley Business School for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, EIR at Bradford School of Management, teaches at London Business School and the London School of Economics in AI and Ethics and is an EC expert for Big Data.
Having observed that it is easy for board members to become removed from the reality of life, to remain grounded, he spends 8 days a month providing hands-on practical skills (handyperson) to his local community through "help the aged", our local hospice, directly and as a volunteer at the local repair shop.
He thrives in complex, ground-breaking & uncertain environments, bringing proven judgement and decision skills with cross-sectorial experience. His 30-year track record of sense-making and foresight means he has been ahead on several technical revolutions. His enthusiasm and drive are contagious & inspiring.
In addition to speaking at over 300 events and conferences on data, innovation, entrepreneurship, digital trends and early-stage growth, he has written and published six books. Tony remains a visiting Fellow at Henley Business School for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, EIR at Bradford School of Management, teaches at London Business School and the London School of Economics in AI and Ethics and is an EC expert for Big Data.
Having observed that it is easy for board members to become removed from the reality of life, to remain grounded, he spends 8 days a month providing hands-on practical skills (handyperson) to his local community through "help the aged", our local hospice, directly and as a volunteer at the local repair shop.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 18, 2024
With (Australian) Robodebt and the (UK) Post Office in the news, now is a great time to reconsider how we govern our organisations and institutions. How is it that highly regarded executives and boards went so far astray?
A lot has been written about how we live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. Most of prescriptions, though, are some form of more data and better algorithms. Faster! More Intense!1 There has been some commentary about how we need to ask better questions if we're to put the data and algorithms to work. This is halfway there, as it's the questions are not asked which are often the most important. This includes both unknown questions (where our default framing of our challenges prevent us from seeing a question) and known questions (but where we don't want to know the answer).
In Decision Making in Uncertain Times2 Tony Fish addresses the elephant in the room by picking apart how groups of decision makers—primarily boards—can ask the unknown or unaskable questions. Rather than the usual "five steps", approach, Tony peels apart the challenge of asking better questions and lets you make up your own mind. He starts by picking apart the assumption that data is objective, works through how the dynamics of the board and the lived experience of board members frames what questions are asked (and how they are asked), before exploring how boards can balance the individual / group and human / organisation tensions that can pull them in the wrong direction.
This is a timely book which, with luck, will move the conversation from the process and technology of board-level decision making to how boards frame and choose questions given all risks and opportunities that come from the complexity and uncertainty of the modern world.
A lot has been written about how we live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. Most of prescriptions, though, are some form of more data and better algorithms. Faster! More Intense!1 There has been some commentary about how we need to ask better questions if we're to put the data and algorithms to work. This is halfway there, as it's the questions are not asked which are often the most important. This includes both unknown questions (where our default framing of our challenges prevent us from seeing a question) and known questions (but where we don't want to know the answer).
In Decision Making in Uncertain Times2 Tony Fish addresses the elephant in the room by picking apart how groups of decision makers—primarily boards—can ask the unknown or unaskable questions. Rather than the usual "five steps", approach, Tony peels apart the challenge of asking better questions and lets you make up your own mind. He starts by picking apart the assumption that data is objective, works through how the dynamics of the board and the lived experience of board members frames what questions are asked (and how they are asked), before exploring how boards can balance the individual / group and human / organisation tensions that can pull them in the wrong direction.
This is a timely book which, with luck, will move the conversation from the process and technology of board-level decision making to how boards frame and choose questions given all risks and opportunities that come from the complexity and uncertainty of the modern world.
Displaying 1 of 1 review