Your customers (and competitors) are changing faster than ever. If your team is going to keep pace with today's markets, you need to improve your decision making skills so you can execute ideas faster and more effectively. In this hour-long webinar, Bud Caddell, founder of NOBL, and Paula Cizek, Chief Research Officer, discuss the social pressures involved in team decision making, how to overcome those pressure, and finally, share the different ways teams can decide how to decide. Try out NOBL's free decision-making tool at http://thedecider.app or visit nobl.io for more information.

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@BUD_CADDELL @PAULACIZEK

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3. WE SERVE THE DIFFERENCE-MAKERS
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● Uncovered $15MM in new revenue
● Increased overall productivity by 27%
● Launched an innovation squad and pipeline
in under a month
● Avoided a painful and unnecessary reorg
● Increased work-life balance by 26%
● Increased candor by 65% within four
months
● Increased alignment across global divisions
by 140%

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Org Design
Change
Management
Leadership
Development
New Ways
of Working

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01. Embedded Change
"I need widespread
organizational change, and I
need it now."
Our most potent offering, a
NOBL team will embed in your
offices to design, guide, and
measure organizational change.
We work quickly, iteratively, and
responsibly to make you more
responsive.
Ask us to share the guide to our
full embedded process.
02. Offsite Design
"I’m taking my people offsite to
redesign how we work.”
A good way to get to know us,
we will design and facilitate your
next offsite. We help your team
think strategically about the
future, align your goals, and
make concrete improvements to
the way you work together.
Ask us to share testimonials
from our offsite clients.
03. Training Programs
"My people need training in
leadership and change, along
with new ways of working."
For when you need targeted skill
development, we design and
deliver training programs for
your senior leaders that help
them manage their teams
through change and become
overall more responsive.
Ask us to share our full list of
courses and classes.

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OUR TOPIC OUR GOAL

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1. Overcoming Social Pressures
2. Discussion
3. Selecting Who & How
4. Discussion
5. Q&A

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● When a diversity of perspectives
results in richer data and insights
● When others help us see and frame
the problem differently
● When a diversity of thought results in a
greater diversity of ideas and solutions
● When others enhance our collective
memory of what’s been learned

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GROUPTHINK
When we
overvalue social
cohesion
EMPEROR’S
NEW CLOTHES
When we
overvalue safety
and social status
BIKESHEDDING
When we
overvalue simple
and approachable
challenges
ABILENE
PARADOX
When we
overvalue what we
think the group
wants
GROUP
POLARIZATION
When we
overvalue
acceptance and
favorability
Examples of Social
Pressure on
Decision-Making

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1. Irrational Optimism
2. Unquestioned Beliefs
3. Rationalizing
4. Stereotyping
5. Self-censorship
6. Group Censors
7. Direct Pressure to Conform

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1. Plan for it
2. If you’re the leader, hang back
3. Encourage debate
4. Gather feedback 1:1
5. Consider alternatives
6. Invite outsiders to participate
7. Formalize your process

16. 1. Assess a group decision you were involved
with in the past.
2. Did a social pressure of any kind affect the
decision? If yes, describe how.
3. If you were to confront the decision today,
what could you do to avoid making the same
mistake?
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THEDECIDER.APP

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I alone decide.
PROS
● Fast
● Unambiguous next steps
● Conveys strength
CONS
● May miss crucial information or perspectives
● Overuse lowers group engagement and
morale

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Everyone must agree.
PROS
● Satisfies all constituents
● Fosters strong, united groups
● Equalizes the distribution of power in a group
● Constituents leave fully prepared to
implement the decision
CONS
● Can take forever
● Nearly impossible for groups with low trust or
competing interests
● Difficulty increases as group grows larger
● Subject to compromises that may not serve
the group well

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You decide, with limitations.
PROS
● Frees up your time and energy
● Owning decisions motivates your team
members
CONS
● May require more hand-holding than
anticipated
● They definitely won’t do EXACTLY what you
would do

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I decide, with input.
PROS
● Yields additional perspectives beyond your own
● Helps you gauge how the decision will play out
politically
● Gives you access to technical knowledge you may
not yourself possess
● Opportunity to influence key stakeholders
CONS
● People may feel excluded and unimportant
● Creates the perception of politicking

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Majority rules.
PROS
● Transparent process
● Perceived as fair
● People easily grasp where the process begins and
ends
CONS
● Vulnerable to groupthink or political campaigning
● Majority feels little need to compromise with
minority
● Lack of ownership on implementing decisions - “I
didn’t vote for that!”

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No one objects.
PROS
● Fast and consultative
● Encourages iterative, “good enough” solutions
● Doesn’t require agreement
● Promotes objective debate
CONS
● The decision making process can rush teams toward a
suboptimal solution
● The formal process can feel unfamiliar and initially
uncomfortable
● Can ignore team cohesion in the decision making
process
● Can be harmful if used on wide-impact, long-lasting
decisions

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Let’s wait and see.
PROS
● Saves time and energy
● Keeps your options open
● Retains focus on current priorities
CONS
● Situation may change suddenly, leaving you in
a vulnerable position
● Overuse harms relationships and conveys
weak leadership
● Can hamstring the whole organization if it
becomes a normal practice

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Let’s flip a coin.
PROS
● Fast and potentially fun
CONS
● Dangerous unless options are well-vetted for
equivalent outcomes

32. 1. Think of an upcoming decision you have to
make with or for your team.
2. Use http://thedecider.app to select a
decision-making approach.
3. Did the recommended method surprise you? Do
you agree or disagree with it? Why?
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33. To Go Deeper:
1. Visit academy.nobl.io
2. Search “EPICS”
3. Scroll down and subscribe
to our newsletter
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