David

Supplements for

“Making Judgment Calls” by Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis

Vocabulary in Context and Paraphrasing

1. The leadership literature has been conspicuously quiet on the topic, and we believe that’s because good judgment is hard to pin down. (p. 96, paragraph 3)

2. For instance, if you run into resistance when you are trying to mobilize and align your team during the preparation phase, you may be able to pinpoint an error in framing the issue. (p. 96, paragraph 6)

3. She hadn’t built a team of people who were energized by her vision, so she couldn’t make it through the execution phase – and a judgment that is not successfully executed is a failed judgment no matter how smart the strategy. (p. 96-7, paragraph 7)

4. The outcome may not have satisfied all of them, but Lafley had neutralized their resistance. (p. 101, paragraph 2)

Reading Questions

1. List the three domains of judgment calls as determined by Tichy and Bennis. In which domain is it most difficult to recover from a misjudgement? Why?

2. What are the three phases of making a judgment call?

3. What is the primary difference between the traditional view and the authors’ view of making a judgment call?

4. Explain a “story line.” Why is it important?

5. Explain a “redo loop.” Why is it important?

6. How are executives similar to triage nurses? How is the decision-making different?

7. What should an executive do if he doesn’t get support for his decision?

8. What is one serious mistake that can be made in the execution phase?

9. Why are judgment calls so important for executives?

Glossary

“aha” moment a specific point at which a discovery is made

align to bring people into agreement or support for an idea

common sense wisdom derived from experience

conspicuously easily visible

counts matters, is of importance

dissent disagreement

drive provide...