38 episodes

Even the smartest people can get tied into knots when making big decisions. Get the tools to move through decisions with less stress and more clarity. Join Stanford Decision Engineer and Coach Michelle Florendo for a comprehensive and systematic way of untangling every decision - no matter how big or small.

New to the podcast?

- Dip into Season 1 for why this podcast exists and the first few pilot season episodes

- Binge Season 2 for tips on how to untangle an upcoming big decision

- Check out Season 3 for how to navigate emotions in the decision process

- Stay tuned for Season 4 launching in summer 2022

For more about Michelle's work, visit http://michelleflorendo.com

Ask a Decision Engineer Michelle Florendo

    • Education
    • 5.0 • 32 Ratings

Even the smartest people can get tied into knots when making big decisions. Get the tools to move through decisions with less stress and more clarity. Join Stanford Decision Engineer and Coach Michelle Florendo for a comprehensive and systematic way of untangling every decision - no matter how big or small.

New to the podcast?

- Dip into Season 1 for why this podcast exists and the first few pilot season episodes

- Binge Season 2 for tips on how to untangle an upcoming big decision

- Check out Season 3 for how to navigate emotions in the decision process

- Stay tuned for Season 4 launching in summer 2022

For more about Michelle's work, visit http://michelleflorendo.com

    S4E01 - Seth Godin on intentional decisions and dancing with fear

    S4E01 - Seth Godin on intentional decisions and dancing with fear

    In this fourth season of the podcast, I'm bringing folks on the show who have influenced my work on decision-making. And who better to start with than Seth Godin, without whom this podcast would not exist.

    Seth is an entrepreneur, an author of multiple New York Times bestselling books, writer of one of the most popular blogs in the world and a dear teacher of mine when it comes to dancing with the emotions that come up in decision-making. Today, we talk about making decisions with intent, the difference between intent and purpose, why fear is not a bad thing, and how to dance with fear when making decisions.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 33 min
    S4E02 - Kathy Davies on design thinking and life decisions

    S4E02 - Kathy Davies on design thinking and life decisions

    Decisions about what you want to do next in life feel big- they can literally change your life. That's why so many people feel stuck in the process. Today I'm speaking with my friend, Kathy Davies, the Managing Director of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University. She is also the co-founder of Designing Your Life for Women and a Master Trainer of the Designing Your Life process.

    In today's episode, Kathy provides an overview of what it looks like to apply design thinking to life decisions, talks about the value of prototyping as a mindset shift, explains why community helps us get unstuck, and invites employers to help co-create new options that work for both companies and employees.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 39 min
    S4E03 - Barry Schwartz on why we should focus on practical wisdom

    S4E03 - Barry Schwartz on why we should focus on practical wisdom

    When making a decision, we should seek out the "best" option, right? Turns out, seeking to maximize your outcomes is likely to leave you less happy and more stressed. On the show today I bring you one of my mentors, Barry Schwartz, who wrote the game-changing book The Paradox of Choice, Why More is Less.

    Barry shares why maximizing is a bad goal, talks about the benefits of constraints, and shows how practical wisdom is what will enable us to succeed in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 44 min
    S4E04 - Alexis Gonzales-Black on org decision making and inclusive processes

    S4E04 - Alexis Gonzales-Black on org decision making and inclusive processes

    Making decisions as an individual has its challenges, but having to make decisions as a group adds many other layers of complexity. To talk about that, I brought my friend, Alexis Gonzales-Black onto today's show.

    Alexis is a Partner and the org design lead at August Public. Before August, she led the implementation of Holacracy at Zappos and helped shape an emerging org design practice for world-class clients at IDEO. She is an expert in organization design and is driven by a desire to make workplaces more inclusive, agile, and fun.

    In this episode, we talk about what she's noticing about the future of work in a hybrid environment, why consensus is not the right approach 90% of the time, what truly inclusive decision processes look like, and a quick reframe that enables you to make group decisions faster.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 42 min
    S4E05 - Carl Spetzler on the six links of decision quality

    S4E05 - Carl Spetzler on the six links of decision quality

    How can you know you've made a good decision, even before you know how things turn out? It’s all about understanding decision quality.

    To talk about that, I invited award-winning decision quality expert, Carl Spetzler onto today's show. Carl is the co-founder and chairman of Strategic Decisions group, a leading strategy consulting firm, renowned for its expertise in strategic decision making for greater value creation. He also literally wrote the book on decision quality along with his colleagues, Hannah Winter and Jennifer Meyer.

    Today, we talk about how the concept of decision quality has helped companies make better decisions when millions and billions of dollars are on the line, how you can employ the six links of decision quality to be confident you are making a good decision, as well as other tips for making better decisions.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 36 min
    S4E06 - Amy Day on decision skills for parents and emerging adults

    S4E06 - Amy Day on decision skills for parents and emerging adults

    Decision-making is not just a cognitive exercise; there are benefits to approaching it as a whole person.

    To talk more about this, I invited Amy Day, decision educator and executive director of the nonprofit Clarity for Action, to my podcast. Amy likes to say that she grew up in a decision laboratory, surrounded by giants from the field of decision science. She's certified as a decision educator, coach and advisor through Stanford, continuing studies.

    Over the past 20 years, she has combined her native background in decision quality, with insights, from social emotional learning, in order to teach emerging adults and parents to integrate whole person decision making into their lives in order to get clarity and take purposeful action.

    Today, Amy explains how to check one's decision fitness with a simple acronym, the four components of whole person decision making, and what parents and adults can do to cultivate decision skills and the young people they support.

    For full show notes and additional resources, visit askadecisionengineer.com

    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
32 Ratings

32 Ratings

Mel A 222 ,

Helps!

How can we make the complex simple enough to be able to act on it? Michelle knows!

Jawsietime ,

Tough decision? Michelle’s your expert

Very cool that Season 4 has these incredible guests. I’ve followed Michelle’s work for years and used her frameworks to guide my own big decisions. She’s an expert in the field and she shares so generously. Love the nuggets of wisdom throughout the show!

MicheleInChicago ,

Great host, great topic, great frame

Michelle Florendo is a genial host and her “decision engineer” framing is so useful. Highly recommend.

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