By Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné, professor at the Institute of Applied Economics at HEC-Montreal.

The writer and philosopher Jean Guitton often recommended that readers adopt a habit that he personally found beneficial, namely, taking a “rationalism cure”. This practice was meant to serve not only in times of personal crisis, but also – and especially – in pressure-filled moments when overwhelming performance anxiety can paralyze a decision maker or cause him to make increasingly impulsive decisions. However, this exercise is not easy. Ideally, novices should be guided by an experienced practitioner, who is able to make them step back and rediscover principles they thought they had assimilated long ago. Should such a person be unavailable, the new book by Russo and Schoemaker should provide assistance to managers resolved to self-administer the required treatment correctly.

In the Socratic tradition, where questions are preceded by convincing examples that artfully illustrate the numerous traps awaiting decision-makers, this book helps readers systematically review each of the fundamental phases that underlie all decision-making processes (of any kind!). These phases are defining decisions, gathering information, drawing conclusions and learning from experience. Scientific literature overflows with articles on these subjects, the authors having themselves largely contributed to their understanding. In particular, this book offers a comprehensible and practical synopsis. The many recommendations in the book could have resulted in an arid, disembodied academic edifice. Instead, they are naturally tucked into highly memorable metaphors and illustrations, in the form of short maxims or checklists, without neglecting all the required practical nuances in the right places.

Like any good book, this one will leave readers wanting more. For my part, I would have liked to see the implementation phase covered more explicitly between drawing conclusions and learning from experience. This omission necessarily detracts from the discussion on learning from experience. Indeed, to learn from experience, one must first be able to distinguish between problems linked to implementation as opposed to the decision-making process. Implementation also raises questions relative to leadership, the balance of power and corporate culture, upon which the authors could have shed more light, albeit briefly in the interests of keeping the book to a reasonable length. Several additional pages on creativity, the contribution of emotions to decision making (e.g. as demonstrated by Damasio), and different decision maker styles would have added even greater value to the book. But who knows? Perhaps Russo and Schoemaker have another excellent book on these topics just waiting in the wings…

Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné is professor at the Applied Economics Institute of HEC-Montreal and Director and Vice President of the “Governance” committee at CIRANO – The Inter-university Organizational Analysis Research Center. He is also consultant to several companies and the author of several books and articles on corporate strategy, corporate governance and environmental management.

[Reading Tips] [Critical commentary] [Further readings]

• Decision Traps
  J. Edward Russo, Paul J. H. Schoemaker – Doubleday. (Book and Manageris synopsis 04a)
• Smart Choices
  John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeny, Howard Raiffa – Harvard Business School Press. (Book and Manageris synopsis 68b)
• The Logic of Failure
  Dietrich Dörner – Perseus. (Book and Manageris synopsis 76b)