Decision Making with Problem Solving & Critical Thinking

Unpack a game plan for decision making by exploring why we avoid risks, and how narrow framing, loss aversion, uncertainty aversion, and utility shape choices, left and right brain roles.

Identify how narrow framing narrows choices when faced with two options in business decisions. Broaden your approach by considering multiple strategies, including mixing options, to improve short-term and long-term outcomes.

Explore loss aversion by examining the endowment effect and loss framing, and how ownership changes perceived value to shape decision making in business.

Explore risk vs uncertainty and uncertainty aversion through the Ellsberg paradox, and learn how transparent pricing and guarantees reduce uncertainty to guide confident decision making.

Explore system one and system two thinking, contrasting fast, automatic judgments with slow, deliberate problem solving, and examine their interaction through examples like the Stroop effect and dual task paradigms.

Explore how the halo effect shapes judgments from appearance to traits, illustrated by Asch and Rosenthal–Jacobson studies, and learn to apply impartial criteria in interviews and marketing.

Explore how utility drives happiness in decision making, marginal utility, pricing, and design. See how cooperation and competition in the prisoner's dilemma shape utility for customers and stakeholders.

Explore how Netflix reinvented human resources by embracing utility to boost employee satisfaction and motivation through unlimited vacation time, flexible schedules, risk-taking, open communication, and honest performance reviews.

Discover how this course's AI assistant delivers on-demand feedback for assignments, guiding you through case studies with five questions and actionable acceptance criteria.

Boost the course by completing the next lecture's feedback form, sharing what fires you up and what's missing, and keep energy high as you power through the rest.

Sharpen risk analysis and problem solving through expected value, net present value, ROI, compounding, and a decision making matrix, with case studies on utility and predictive analytics.

Calculate return on investment by dividing net gain by cost and multiplying by 100. Use ROI to guide resource allocation, noting Coca-Cola and Nike may require high thresholds (e.g., 50%).

Analyze return on investment in a coffee shop scenario by evaluating a $2,000 espresso machine and $10 daily incremental sales. Determine payback within a one-year window to guide decision making.

Explore the expected value as a decision making tool, a weighted average of outcomes by their probabilities. Learn how to apply it to finance, portfolio optimization, and risk assessment.

Compute the expected value of introducing a new product from high (60%, $2,000) and low (40%, $1,000) demand scenarios, and beware the flaw of averages.

Explore compounding and the snowball effect of interest on principal across yearly, quarterly, and monthly periods, with a simple formula and practical examples to maximize growth.

Compare two savings plans on €10,000 over 20 years, where John earns 10% with annual compounding and Jane 9.5% with monthly compounding, to see which yields higher returns.

Explore net present value as a time value of money tool, using cash inflows, initial investment, and a discount rate to assess investment viability and ROI.

Analyze the feasibility of a hypothetical Amazon warehouse in Antarctica using net present value analysis, cash flows, and the discount rate to determine profitability and decision criteria.

Explore the limitations of net present value and strengthen investment decisions with sensitivity analysis, scenario planning, real option analysis, decision trees, and Monte Carlo simulations.

Use decision making matrices to simplify complex choices, applying the McKinsey seven framework and the BCG matrix to assess strategy, structure, systems, values, skills, and staff for aligned decisions.

Evaluate course options using a decision making matrix focused on demand, competition, effort, evergreen content, and maintenance to guide online course creation decisions.

Think in terms of utility, not money, when decision making. Compare options using utility dollars and expected value, recognizing risk, personal circumstance, and consequences.

Explore regression to the mean in business and investing, showing how top and bottom performers drift toward the average and why consistency and skill matter over mediocrity.

Explore cognitive biases like confirmation bias, anchoring, linear survivorship selection, mutual causality, gambler's fallacy, and regression to the mean, and learn to recognize and overcome them.

Explore confirmation bias as you read a news article and see how beliefs shape interpretations; seek diverse sources and practice critical thinking to challenge your views.

Explore how anchoring bias in negotiations links initial prices to outcomes, from real estate offers to online dating impressions. Counteract by seeking multiple viewpoints and information that contradicts the anchor.

Explore linear bias and precision bias in data interpretation, showing why extrapolating obesity trends is misleading, and why non-linear patterns and population validity matter.

Explore survivorship bias in mutual fund performance, showing how excluding discontinued funds inflates returns; Morningstar's 2004 data rise from 11% annual growth to 9% when all funds are counted.

Analyze selection bias in evaluating Harvard versus non-Harvard outcomes using a comparable control group and matching, finding that motivation and circumstances often matter more than the diploma.

Explore mutual causality bias in crime and policing by analyzing a case study where terrorist alerts proxy for police force, revealing a 7% crime decrease.

Improve decision making with four principles: judge decisions by what you knew at the time, keep solutions simple, use artificial intelligence and analytics, and seek diverse perspectives to avoid groupthink.

Spot and avoid hindsight bias in decision making by evaluating choices based on information available at the time and considering multiple scenarios. Learn from failures to improve future decisions.

Explore Zeno's paradox of motion, and resolve it with practical experimentation, as Diogenes the cynic shows you can finish, and a simple math view using 0.999....

Discover how artificial intelligence and machine learning reshape decision making in business, from pricing changes to customer experience, with real-world examples and global impact projections.

Go for colors highlights embracing diversity to improve decision making, problem solving, and innovation; diverse teams reduce unethical behavior and group polarization while generating varied ideas for better outcomes.

Celebrate completing the course and strengthen decision making, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. Share your certificate of completion on LinkedIn and write a brief reflection to build social proof.