Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction

by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Tony Blair (Foreword by)

Overview

*International Book Awards Finalist

It can be messy and overwhelming to figure out how to solve thorny problems. Where do you start? How do you know where to look for information and evaluate its quality and bias? How can you feel confident that you are making a careful and thoroughly researched decision?

Whether you are deciding between colleges, navigating a career decision, helping your aging parents find the right housing, or expanding your business, Problem Solved will show you how to use the powerful AREA Method to make complex personal and professional decisions with confidence and conviction.

Cheryl's AREA Method coaches you to make smarter, better decisions because it:

• Recognizes that research is a fundamental part of decision making and breaks down the process into a series of easy-to-follow steps.
• Solves for problematic mental shortcuts such as bias, judgment, and assumptions.
• Builds in strategic stops that help you chunk your learning, stay focused, and make your work work for you.
• Provides a flexible and repeatable process that acts as a feedback loop.

Life is filled with uncertainty, but that uncertainty needn't hobble us. Problem Solved offers a proactive way to work with, and work through, ambiguity to make thoughtful, confident decisions despite our uncertain and volatile world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632650863
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	04/17/2017
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Cheryl Strauss Einhorn an award-winning investigative journalist, covers business, economic, and financial news for publications including Barron's, Pro Publica, Foreign Policy, and the New York Times. As the founder of CSE Consulting, a strategic consulting practice, she applies her AREA Method—initially developed to promote better decision-making in her journalism work—toward the success of businesses and individuals. A Columbia University adjunct professor, she teaches her AREA Method at Columbia Business School, having also taught it at the Graduate School of Journalism. To learn more about Einhorn, please visit areamethod.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tony Blair 15

How to Use This Book 17

Chapter 1 Navigating the Gray AREA 21

Chapter 2 AREA = A: Absolute 53

Cheetah Sheet 1 Getting to Know Your Target 56

Cheetah Sheet 2 Just the Numbers 58

Cheetah Sheet 3 The Story of Your Target's Website 67

Cheetah Sheet 4 Your Target's Official Statements 71

Cheetah Sheet 5 Learning About the Leadership 74

Cheetah Sheet 6 Your Target's Position Papers 76

Cheetah Sheet 7 A Final Look 81

Chapter 3 AREA = R: Relative 83

Cheetah Sheet 8 Planning Ahead for Exploration 86

Cheetah Sheet 9 Literature Review 92

Cheetah Sheet 10 What's the Story? 94

Chapter 4 AREA = E: Exploration 107

Cheetah Sheet 11 Finding Good Prospects 113

Cheetah Sheet 12 Great Questions Roadmap 116

Cheetah Sheet 13 Great Questions: Direct, Broad, and Theoretical 119

Cheetah Sheet 14 Great Closing Questions 124

Cheetah Sheet 15 Vetting Your Great Questions 131

Cheetah Sheet 16 Storyboarding Your Great Questions 133

Chapter 5 AREA = E: Exploitation 147

Cheetah Sheet 17 Step-by-Step Outline for CAH Exercise 154

Cheetah Sheet 18 Pro/Con Analysis 161

Cheetah Sheet 19 Visual Mapping 166

Cheetah Sheet 20 Developing a Scenario Analysis 171

Chapter 6 AREA = A: Analysis 177

Cheetah Sheet 21 Getting the Data Right 182

Cheetah Sheet 22 Pre-Mortem 186

Cheetah Sheet 23 Appraising Your Thesis Statements Part 1 188

Cheetah Sheet 24 Appraising Your Thesis Statements Part 2 189

Conclusion: Blue Skies 195

Appendix A 201

Appendix B 207

Index 219

About the Author 223

Editorial Reviews

This excellent book shows how the science of decision-making can be applied and therefore the outcome made better.” —Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister

Tony Blair

Human beings are surprisingly bad at making decisions in complex modern environments. For most of us, therefore, a well-conceived, disciplined decision process is essential. Problem Solved clearly and effectively presents one of the best such processes available. It is invaluable.

Bruce Greenwald

Effective problem solving in our daily lives requires orderly thinking. Cheryl Einhorn shows us a way to do it in a short, clearly written book. Her lessons are organized around case studies that are free of jargon and to the point. In fact, her case studies are short novels that draw the reader into the dilemmas her characters face. They provide wonderful illustrations of how to go about making difficult decisions. Her book is a ‘must read’ those of us facing major decisions about our personal and professional futures.” —John Campbell, former United States Ambassador to Nigeria and currently the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations

John Campbell

Cheryl Einhorn has given us a practical book providing a wealth of useful lessons for making complex decisions of almost any kind. It breaks down everything from where to look for data and insights to how to make sure you don’t see only what you want to see. This is a book that can be useful for everyone.

Atul Gawande

Impressively well written, exceptionally well organized, and informatively presented, Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction is an effective and practical life-enhancing read from cover to cover.

Midwest Book Review

Impressively well written, exceptionally well organized, and informatively presented, Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction is an effective and practical life-enhancing read from cover to cover.

From the Publisher

Cheryl Einhorn has given us a practical book providing a wealth of useful lessons for making complex decisions of almost any kind. It breaks down everything from where to look for data and insights to how to make sure you don’t see only what you want to see. This is a book that can be useful for everyone.” —Atul Gawande, best-selling author of The Checklist Manifesto and Being Mortal

Reviews