Decisions Over Decimals

Agile decision making is imperative as you lead in a data-driven world. Amid streams of data and countless meetings, we make hasty decisions, slow decisions, and often no decisions. Uniquely bridging theory and practice, Decisions Over Decimals breaks this pattern by uniting data intelligence with human judgment to get to action ― a sharp approach the authors refer to as Quantitative Intuition (QI). QI raises the power of thinking beyond big data without neglecting it and chasing the perfect decision while appreciating that such a thing can never really exist.

Successful decision-makers are fierce interrogators. They square critical thinking with open-mindedness by blending information, intuition, and experience. Balancing these elements is at the heart of Decisions Over Decimals.

This book is not only designed to be read – but frequently referenced – as you face innumerable decision moments. It is the hands-on manual for confident, accurate decision-making you’ve been looking for; the rare resource that provides a set of pragmatic leadership tools to accelerate:

• Effectively framing the problem for stakeholders
• Synthesizing intelligence from incomplete information
• Delivering decisions that stick

Strike the right balance between information and intuition and lead the smarter way with the real-world guidance found in Decisions Over Decimals.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Asking Powerful Questions

Chapter 2 Framing the Problem

Chapter 3 Working Backward to Move Forward

Chapter 4 Learning to Become a Fierce Data Interrogator

Chapter 5 Developing Intuition forNumbers

Chapter 6 From Analysis to Synthesis

Chapter 7 The Decision Moment

Chapter 8 Delivering the Decision

Chapter 9 Chasing the Decision

Chapter 10 Creating a Quantitative Intuition™ Culture

Chapter 11 The Future of Data-Driven Decision-Making

About the Authors

Christopher J. Frank is a Vice President in the Global Advertising and Brand Management team at American Express. He is a senior strategist at the intersection of marketing, analytics, and commerce developing superior strategies applied to global markets working with B2B and B2C products. He is the co-author of Drinking from the Fire Hose and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School.

Paul F. Magnone is Head of Global Strategic Alliances at Google. He is a leader in using technology and innovation to create and develop growth strategies for businesses. He has launched new high-growth businesses working in over 30 countries and has been an Industry Mentor in the NSF I-Corps™ Program. He is the co-author of Drinking from the Fire Hose and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School.

Oded Netzer is the Vice Dean of Research and the Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. He is also an Amazon Scholar and an affiliate of the Columbia University Data Science Institute. Professor Netzer is a world-renowned expert in data-driven decision-making. His award-winning research is broadly read and highly cited. He has published dozens of papers in the world’s leading marketing and management science journals.