Cheryl is a long time educator, having taught at Columbia Business School for over a decade and currently teaching at Cornell University’s SC Johnson School of Business and Cornell Tech. She is the author of three books: Problem Solved, A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction, about personal and professional decision-making, and Investing In Financial Research, A Decision-Making System for Better Results about financial and investment decisions. 

Cheryl is the founder of Decisive, a decision sciences company that trains people and teams in complex problem solving and decision-making skills using the AREA Method. AREA is an evidence-based decision-making system that uniquely controls for and counters cognitive bias to expand knowledge while improving judgment. 

Cheryl developed AREA during her two decades as an award-winning investigative journalist writing for publications ranging from The New York Times to Foreign Policy Magazine, Barron’s and Harvard Business Review. 

What do you do when you face an important but complicated decision? 

Do you turn to experts? Dig for data? Ask trusted friends and colleagues? Go with your gut?

As the CEO you face myriad decisions that will impact the course of your venture:

• Do I fire that super talented senior leader who isn't a team player or do I grin and bear because his/her expertise is so invaluable?

• Do I initiate change at the management board level or is it better not to rock the boat at the moment?

• Do I close down a few programs to preserve cash or should I try to raise money even if the valuation is low?

• etc.

Many of us approach decision making from the same perspective over and over. We use the same tools and habits every time, even if the decisions to be taken are vastly different. 

But following the same strategy for every problem limits your abilities. 

To make better decisions, you need to break out of these patterns and see things differently, even if it is uncomfortable.

First, you need to understand your own decision-making strengths and your blind spots: 

• What is the psychology of your decision making? 

• What is your typical approach? 

• What mental mistakes or cognitive biases tend to get in your way? 

Looking inward to what you value can illuminate why you make decisions the way you do — and how you might be shortchanging yourself with your approach. From there, you can disrupt your traditional processes.

In this interactive session we will help you:

• Identify your Problem Solver Profile (PSP)

• Internalize the strengths of different decision approaches

• Explore the cognitive biases associated with different PSPs

• Apply AREA strategies for improving decision efficacy and agency