The Decision Intelligence Handbook: Practical steps for evidence-based decisions in a complex world

L. Y. Pratt and N. E. Malcolm

To be published: Spring 2023, O’Reilly

Available now in early release.
Sign up here to receive advance notice of publication and “insider” discounts.

Table of Contents

  • Practitioner’s Summary
  • Chapter 1 Introduction
    • What is Decision Intelligence?
    • Who this book is for
    • Goals for this book
    • Relationship to Link
    • How this book is organized
  • Chapter 2 Decision Design
    • Terminology notes
    • Decision Framing
      • Decision Framing concepts
      • Decision Framing process
    • Decision Modeling
      • Decision Modeling concepts
      • Decision Modeling process
      • Decision Modeling Preparation process (optional)
      • Decision Modeling Research process (optional)
  • Chapter 3 Decision Making
    • Decision Asset Augmentation
      • Decision Assets-related concepts
      • Decision Assets Augmentation process
    • Decision Assessment
      • Decision Uncertainty concepts
      • Decision Assessment process
    • Decision Simulation
      • Decision Simulation concepts
      • Decision Simulation process
  • Chapter 4 Decision Action
    • Levers, Choices, Actions, and Decisions
    • Decision Monitoring
      • Decision Monitoring-related concepts
      • Decision Monitoring process
  • Chapter 5 Decision Review
    • Decision Retrospective
      • Decision Retrospective-related concepts
      • Decision Retrospective process
    • Decision Artifacts Retention
      • Decision Artifacts Retention-related concepts
      • Decision Artifacts Retention process
      • Establish Decision Artifacts Retention Repositories process
  • Chapter 6 Optional Technology Support
    • Methodology vs. Software
    • Types of technology support
  • Appendix A: The Business Case for Decision Intelligence
    • Most conversations between decision makers and data professionals begin back-to-front.
    • Problem 1: How can decision makers identify the data they need to support their decisions?
    • Problem 2: How can the data assets available to support a decision be used to show how a decision’s outcomes depend on the actions taken by the decision maker?
    • The Solution
    • Case Study: Planning a new product’s first production run
    • Tool 1: The Decision Model
    • Decision Intelligence and Business Intelligence: how they differ and why we need both
    • Tool 2: Simulation
    • Differences between data-centric and decision-centric dashboards
    • Conclusion and Summary
  • Appendix B: What is Decision Intelligence?
    • History
      • Google Cloud’s Dr. Cassie Kozyrkov, and her role as a “Chief Decision Scientist”
      • Gartner’s “Engineering Decision Intelligence” model
      • What has been missing
    • Motivation
      • Why we need a decision methodology
      • What is a decision methodology?
      • The status of the DI industry today
  • Appendix C: Worksheets and Forms
    • Worksheet: 2.1 Decision Verification
    • Worksheet: 2.2 Decision Framing
    • Worksheet: 3.b.1 Decision Modeling Research
    • Worksheet: 4.1 Decision Asset Register
    • Worksheet: 5.1 Decision Element Assessment Register
    • Worksheet: 6.1 Decision Simulation Scenario Record
    • Worksheet: 7.1 Decision Monitoring Record
    • Worksheet: 8.1 Decision Retrospective Record
    • Worksheet: 9.1 Decision Artifacts Retention Register
    • Worksheet: 9.2 Decision Artifacts Repositories Register
  • Appendix D: Use Case: Unlimited Usage Plan
    • Decision Design
      • Decision Objective Statement
      • Decision Framing
      • Decision Modeling
    • Decision Making
      • Decision Asset Augmentation
      • Decision Assessment
      • Decision Simulation
    • Decision Action
      • Decision Monitoring
    • Decision Review
      • Decision Retrospective
      • Decision Artifact Retention
  • Appendix E: Best Practices
    • Decision Modeling
    • Decision Augmentation
  • Appendix F: Supplementary Materials
    • More on why Decision Framing is important
      • Pitfalls of informal Decision Framing
    • More about who should be part of the decision team
    • When does Decision Design or Decision-Making stop?
      • All models are wrong, some models are useful
      • Decision models are advisory, not absolute
      • Don’t allow the perfect to be the enemy of the “better”
    • Estimating the time needed for Decision Modeling
    • Decision Approach
      • Decision Approach process
      • Worksheet: Decision Approach Register
    • Sample Annotated CDDs
  • Appendix G: Glossary
  • Appendix H: Tailoring Notes
  • Bibliography