CRITICAL DECISION MAKING: THE ROLE OF CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT
with Dr. Michael Roberto
December 05, 2018, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
495 (CAD) + HST per person
Vantage Venues
150 King Street W, 27th Floor, Toronto ON M5H 1J9
+1 416-366-4228

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Book by Dr. Michael Roberto
Book by Dr. Michael Roberto

CRITICAL DECISION MAKING: THE ROLE OF CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT

 
Leaders hear 'yes' far too often. They don't hear bad news until it's too late. It's an enormous problem for leaders, for teams, for the entire organization. But is it inevitable? Absolutely not. In this workshop, Professor Michael Roberto shows you how to stimulate dissent and debate to improve your decision making; he also shows how to keep that conflict constructive. Of course, conflict alone does not produce better decisions and improved results. Leaders need to cultivate debate and simultaneously build consensus. Through fascinating examples from history, including the Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the tragedy on Mount Everest, the workshop will explore each of the following: the five myths of executive decision making; how to foster open debate that actually builds long-term consensus; how to achieve "diversity in counsel, unity in command"; how to move to closure: overcoming the inability to decide; avoiding "analysis paralysis" and other pitfalls; how to gain the whole-hearted commitment to act; and how to address hidden doubts that could undermine your final decision. Whether you're a senior executive or a project team member, this workshop will help you leverage your team's immense untapped wisdom to make better decisions—and get better results.

DR. MICHAEL ROBERTO

 

Dr. Michael Roberto is the Trustee Professor of Management at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. He joined the tenured faculty at Bryant after serving for six years on the faculty at Harvard Business School. He has also been a Visiting Associate Professor of Management at New York University's Stern School of Business.

His research focuses on decision-making, teamwork, and leadership. He has published three books, the latest of which is titled Unlocking Creativity (Wiley, 2019), Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes For An Answer (2nd edition published in 2013), and Know What You Don't Know (published in 2009). He also has developed three Great Courses lecture series, the best-selling Everest Leadership and Team Simulation, and the award-winning Columbia's Final Mission multi-media case study about the 2003 space shuttle accident.

Dr. Roberto has taught in leadership development programs and consulted at several firms, including Mars, Deloitte, Google, Target, Apple, FedEx, Disney, Morgan Stanley, IBM, Wal-Mart, Amica, and Textron. He's also presented at numerous government organizations, including the FBI, NASA, Joint Special Operations Command, the Air War College, and West Point.

He received an A.B. with honors from Harvard College in 1991. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1995, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar. He also received his doctorate from Harvard Business School in 2000.


WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

 
  • Key decision making traps and biases
  • How to lead teams more effectively
  • Effective ways to collaborate and communicate more effectively to make better decisions
  • How to create a climate where people feel comfortable speaking up


TOPICS COVERED

 

Building and Leading a Team

Case Study: The 1996 Mount Everest Tragedy

  • Critical lessons regarding leadership style, common decision-making errors, team design, and the importance of developing a climate where people feel comfortable expressing dissenting views.





Designing an Effective Decision-Making Process

Case Study: Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.



Through the study of these two classic decisions by President Kennedy, we

compare and contrast how these two teams managed conflict more vs. less

effectively. It also provides an interesting contrast in the leadership

approach that Kennedy took in the failed decision vs. the later successful

one. Specifically, he learned a great deal from the failure, and adapted his

leadership style and his decision-making process in several critical ways in the latter case.



Fostering Innovative Decision-Making Case Study: IDEO



IDEO is one of the world’s leading product design firms. How has this firm

consistently designed innovative, market leading products for companies in

a wide variety of industries? What are the critical components of their highly

creative, yet disciplined process for innovation and new product development?

This case study allows us to examine how leaders at IDEO foster creativity and

innovation, and build and lead high-performing teams. It also helps us

understand the ways in which the leaders at IDEO have created a culture that

encourages and stimulates innovation, which enables IDEO to sustain

competitive advantage over time in a dynamic industry.


GUIDE TO PARTICIPANT SELECTION

 
Senior Leaders
APPLICABLE IF IT MATCHES A DEVELOPMENT NEED
Mid-Level-Leaders
PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE
Emerging Leaders and Functional Experts
PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE


Program Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based (Zoom platform)
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Participants will earn 3 CPE credits or 3 PDC credits
Field of Study: Personal Development
 
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