The COVID-19 outbreak is forcing executives, managers, policy makers, and the rank-and-file within organizations worldwide to quickly assess the risks they face and make business- and life-impacting decisions. In such situations, our natural tendencies are often to focus on limited subsets of information, which means we miss and ignore other important evidence.

In Part I (watch it on demand) of this two-part webinar series, Cutter Consortium Senior Consultant and Ivey Business School Professor Dr. Laurel Austin provided strategies for better managing risk by being aware of emotions and selective perceptions that lead us to miss important information. In Part II of series, Dr. Austin explores why people make decisions contrary to data and experts’ advice and how organizations can improve their decision making as they are faced with tough business decisions, whether pertaining to layoffs, abrupt changes in strategies and plans, or issuing guidelines related to coronavirus concerns. Drawing on relevant examples from other domains, Dr. Austin identifies difficulties people have in gathering information, selecting the right information to make sound decisions, and overcoming the predictable, systematic ways we fail to use all the information that's available when making vital decisions. Topics include:

• How leaders, values, and organizational culture impact decisions
• How fast intuitive decision making can lead us astray
• How to avoid decision traps and decision biases
• Strategies for improving risk-based decisions

Guests: Register below to discover how to avoid underestimating risks and rushing to decisions that can lead to far worse outcomes than is necessary.