The Decision-Making Studio Podcast

Today, we tackle some big-picture questions about the role of business in society when it comes to protecting human rights and democracy. And of course, this is very topical. I am honour to welcome Michael Posner to the show. Michael is the director of the Centre for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is a human rights lawyer, and he was Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour under the Obama administration. He is the author of a new book, Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights, which, given the state of things in the world and the United States, is pretty timely and important. Michael covers a ton of ground here, from the primacy of shareholder capitalism, how to make decisions in a world comprised of competing expectations and trade-offs, the tensions associated with decisions around human rights and environmental concerns, when CEOs should speak up, and his thoughts on the Trump administration and what's happening with regard to the United States' role in the world and to democracy and human rights. Show notes: Michael Posner - https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/author/michaelposner/ Conscience Incorporated: Pursue Profits While Protecting Human Rights - https://bhr.stern.nyu.edu/publication/conscience-incorporated/ Centre for Business and Human Rights at New York University's Stern School of Business - https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/about/departments-centers-initiatives/centers-of-research/business-and-human-rights/center-business-and-human-rights Fair Labour Association - https://www.fairlabor.org/ Xinjiang, forced labour, and solar panels - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57124636 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=cbd8d34efe Get in touch: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/contact-us

Today, we talk about happiness. Is happiness a choice? Is it a skill? Is it a set of practices? Is it all those things? What's the difference between happiness and fulfilment or well-being? I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Mark Fabian to the show. Mark is a professor of public policy at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He was previously a Fulbright scholar. He studies well-being from an interdisciplinary lens. Mark is also the author of a fabulous new book called Beyond Happy -  How to Rethink Happiness and Find Fulfilment. So, we talk all about that in this episode, including what happiness is, the foundations of happiness, success and its hidden costs, relationships, happiness and the decisions we make, and something very important today -  happiness and confronting nihilism. Show notes: Mark Fabian Beyond Happy -  How to Rethink Happiness and Find Fulfilment. Theory of Subjective Well-being Hedonic treadmill Introjection Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Moneyball Sonya Lyobomirsky Epicureanism Laurie Santos Jonathan Haidt Cyber punk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=cbd8d34efe Get in touch: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/contact-us  

Today, we delve into the world of organizations and what my guest calls a “future-fit” organisational culture. My guest is Geoff Marlow and he has over three decades of experience around the world helping organisations create these future-fit cultures. That term caught my attention because around here, we're interested in the future and uncertainty. For part of his career, Geoff spent time on the leadership team of the Society for Organisational Learning,  which included the legendary Dr. Peter Senge - a renowned or was a renowned management guru and Arie de Geus, a scenario thinker who was the head of Shell's strategic planning group.  Geoff helps leaders understand why organisations fail or succeed. And we tackle all of that in this conversation. We get into Geoff's three aspects of a future-fit culture, which are sense-making, decision-making, and action-taking. We also talk about leadership, change, and so much more. Show notes: Geoff’s substack: https://geoffmarlow.substack.com/ Geoff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreymarlow/ Peter Senge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Senge The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge Mike Jackson and Critical Systems Thinking The Dance of Change by Peter Senge Geoff’s “The Five Fatal Habits” The Big Con by Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington Intentional Revolutions by Nevis, Lancourt and Vassallo Eric Weinstein’s DISC – “Distributed Idea Suppression Complex” _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=cbd8d34efe Get in touch: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/contact-us

What can we learn about business and society from a seasoned sustainability practitioner? Plenty! Meet Isobel O'Connell. Isobel has a couple of decades of experience in areas related to the environment, social issues - particularly local community consultation across the globe,  human rights and related areas. She's now an advisor, and a board member, and was named one of the top global 50 women in sustainability. In this episode, she shares several insights and perspectives from her broad career in these areas. We get into a variety of stories, the different landscapes and definitions out there for things like ESG and corporate social responsibility, how these things have evolved, and how people who work in these areas navigate a variety of complexities and trade-offs when it comes to decision-making. This conversation provides a fascinating window into how both business and society interact via a career path you perhaps didn’t know existed. Show notes: Isobel on LinkedIn The Juukan Gorge destruction Double materiality assessment UN Global Compact Alison Taylor on The Decision-Making Studio Podcast OECD Guidelines for citizen participation processes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=1e2a6c0ea9  Get in touch: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/contact-us

This episode is about thinking differently around climate change, and it will help you think about this topic much more expansively. My guest is John Morrison, who is the CEO of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, which is a global “think and do tank” with consultative status at the United Nations. John serves on a number of boards and advisory councils, and he is the author of a new book called The Just Transition - A Systems Thinking Approach to Climate Action. And John posits that if we try to solve the climate crisis in isolation from tackling other challenges, particularly social challenges around how local communities and workers feel about a transition to a net zero world, we won't solve the climate crisis. Things are interconnected and we need to recognise that. So, we get into that. We talk about systems thinking, navigating the complexity of these topics, trade-offs, technology, accountability, and of course, decision-making. According to John, we need to move beyond narrow, linear and box-ticking type of approaches to these challenges. Otherwise, we are doing ourselves and the planet a huge disservice. Show notes: John Morrison The Just Transition - A Systems Thinking Approach to Climate ActionThe Institute for Human Rights and Business Herbert Simon Donella Meadows Free, prior and informed consent The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive The EU Corporate Responsibility Reporting Directive Transition minerals _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=1e2a6c0ea9 

In this conversation, guest Dan Davies, a former investment banker and acclaimed author of "Lying for Money" and "The Unaccountability Machine," explores the troubling dynamics of accountability in large systems. He discusses the phenomenon of the 'accountability sink,' where rigid rules shield individuals from blame. Delving into topics such as the flaws in prioritizing shareholder value and the complexities of decision-making in finance, Davies emphasizes the urgent need for effective communication and personal responsibility within organizations.

Today, I welcome Roger Spitz back to the show. Roger is a futurist, author, and president of Techistential, which is a strategy consultancy. He's also the chair of The Disruptive Futures Institute, which is a global education hub. For the purposes of this episode, however, he is the author of a new book, Disrupt with Impact - Achieve Business Success in an Unpredictable World, which is all about helping to guide us through uncertainty and unpredictability. Roger was in London at the end of last year and we met up and recorded this fabulous episode in an external studio. We covered lots of ground with this chat, including what Roger means by “disruption 3.0”, uncertainty, AI, some of the shortcomings of our education system, and what leaders can and should be doing to disrupt with impact.  Show Notes: Disrupt with Impact - https://www.thrivingondisruption.com/disrupt-with-impact Roger on LinkedIn - Roger Spitz Techistential – www.techistential.ai  Roger on the podcast on episode 198 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LTP4xkhxwpjwpUEDeE7Xe?si=LhgixrbnRXGB9OXSccLK4Q Joseph Schumpeter - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter Clayton Christensen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Christensen Dr. Peter Bishop - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-bishop-2866257/ Teach the Future - https://www.teachthefuture.org/  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ All our podcast episodes are here: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast  Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=1e2a6c0ea9   

This “inbetweenisode” is based on the latest edition of our newsletter. It’s all about uncertainty. After two and a half decades of working with decision-making under uncertainty, I have come to the following conclusion: uncertainty is about emotion. Show notes: Our latest newsletter: https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=f19fc74942b40b513cf66af32&id=1e2a6c0ea9 Scenario planning guide: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ben-cattaneo_scenario-planning-taster-guide-activity-7200947403045175296-EXlT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ Subscribe to our podcast: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast

In this insightful discussion, Daniel Wagner, CEO of Country Risk Solutions and co-author of Decision-Making in the Polycrisis Era, shares his expertise on the evolving geopolitical landscape as 2025 approaches. He analyzes the potential impact of a second Trump term on foreign policy and NATO, while shedding light on the challenges posed by U.S.-China relations. Wagner also addresses the fragility of multilateralism in climate policy and the unpredictability of global flashpoints, urging listeners to engage with these pressing issues.

Today, we're going to hear about something called “the housefly effect”, which is all about how little interventions affect our behaviour and how we don't even realize that. My guests are the co-authors of a fascinating book by the same name, The Housefly Effect – How Nudge Psychology Steers Your Everyday Behaviour. They are Dr. Eva van den Broek, and Tim den Heijer, both are based in the Netherlands. Eva holds a PhD in behavioural economics and is the founder of Behavioral Insights. She works with a lot of policymakers on these topics. Tim is a creative strategist, the founder of B.R.A.I.N. Creatives and has over 20 years of experience in advertising for some of the biggest brands in the world. And they make a great team, as you will hear. This conversation is a fun one, but it makes you think. And, as you listen to it, it's interesting to consider the choices that we make and whether or not there's something at play in these decisions that's almost imperceptible - the housefly effect. Small things can have big impacts. And if we understand that, it opens many fascinating possibilities. Show Notes: The Housefly Effect – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Housefly-Effect-Psychology-Everyday-Behaviour/dp/183501142X Eva on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/evdbroek/ Tim on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timdenheijer/ Eva’s firm Stichting Behavioural Insights - https://www.behaviouralinsights.nl/ Tim’s firm B.R.A.I.N. Creatives - https://braincreatives.nl/wie Morioka Shoten – the Tokyo bookshop that only sells one book: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/23/japanese-bookshop-stocks-only-one-book-at-a-time Robert Cialdini - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini Gerd Gigerenzer – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd_Gigerenzer Koen Smets – https://behavioralscientist.org/author/koen-smets/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Learn more about The Decision-Making Studio: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/ Subscribe to our podcast: https://thedecisionmaking.studio/podcast