Post-Conference Virtual Workshops
Title: "HURDLES TO GROWING AND SUSTAINING A DQ ORGANIZATION, AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM"
Instructors:
Brude Judd (Strategic Decisions Group)
Jay Andersen (Oaken Table Consulting)

Date: May 9, 2024
Time 8:00am to 12:00pm PT

Workshop Abstract:      

This workshop delves into the challenges associated with growing and sustaining an internal Decision Quality function within an organization. We will examine a number of common difficulties that are typically encountered on the DQ journey and discuss potential mitigating strategies.

Revolving Leadership – Leaders come and go over time; this may include your DQ executive sponsor.

“No Vacancy” – Some potential allied departments may be resistant to becoming DQ partners.

“Language” – Use the target group’s language to describe what you’re doing; easier for them to understand and may be less objectionable.

“Flavor of the Month” – What to do to avoid having DQ be just seen as the latest management fad in your organization. Is AI seen as a replacement for DQ discussions?

Practitioner Capabilities – How to be proactive about capability training and developing career paths for members of your DQ team.

A Seat at the Table – How best to ensure that your DQ has representation at the Decision Board.

New Eyeglasses Effect – Implementation of DQ for part of the portfolio may make these projects seem less desirable than projects for which DQ has not been applied.

“Cultural Mismatch” – Not fitting with/tailored to the culture of the organizations.

Throughout the workshop, the leaders will share insights gained from their own experiences, as well as those elicited from a collection of interviews conducted with practicing decision professionals with experiences over a thirty-year period.

This workshop is intended for:
Intermediate Decision Practitioners
Experienced Decision Practitioners

Speaker: Yong Tao (Cloudstone Capital)
Moderator: Carl Spetzler (SDG)

The explosive advance of AI in the last several years has ignited excitements in society

and triggered deep concerns from some AI experts and the public on AI governance, for which research and legislation have been lagging. Effective and trusted AI governance is both imperative and urgent for healthy AI developments and deployments going forward. In this article, we explore AI governance from the lens of decision-making: humans are essentially governed by our decisions and actions, AI decisions and actions directly interact with humans, should AI be governed the same way as humans through ethics, laws, and regulations (ELRs) of the human society AI is operating in? And if so, how? We propose a minimum set of new rules (MNRs) on AI algorithms and codes, on AI developers, on AI users, and on society at the national level. These MNRs, in harmony with ELRs, enable humans to govern AI with relevant existing societal ELRs effectively and efficiently. We establish these MNRs through carefully examining human, human-AI, and AI decision-making process on framing, clarification of values, alternatives development, information gathering, logic reasoning, deciding on and committing to the optimal course of action, and decision execution. These MNRs are candidates for potential AI legislature. We urge global AI governance collaboration to rein in AI developments in weaponry and existential AI threats to humanity, based on the proposed MNRs.

Post-Conference Virtual Workshops
Title: "READY, AIM, FRAME – BECOMING POWERFUL DECISION FRAMERS"

Instructors:
Ellen Coopersmith (Decision Frameworks)
Ray Spence (Decision Frameworks)
Ashley Corso (Decision Frameworks)

Date: May 22, 2024
Time: 7:00am to 11:00am PT

Workshop Abstract:      
Refine your decision framing skills and become strong decision framers. Understand different framing workflows for a variety of decisions and learn how to apply the appropriate framing steps/tools to enable informed decisions for EACH type of decision problem. Learn to facilitate the framing workflows to enable productive dialogue and thoughtful and informed decision frames. This interactive class will be divided into three framing teams. Each will be framing the same interesting opening a new business strategy, which is an industry agnostic case using different framing workflow: Standard Decision Framing, De-risking Decision Framing and Scenario Thinking Decision Framing. Facilitation skills to ensure efficient framing of the workflows and dialogue with decision makers will tighten the skill set, along with Decision Frameworks Decision Quality Toolbox as very useful reference manual post the course.

This workshop is intended for:
New/Beginner Decision Practitioners
Intermediate Decision Practitioners
Experienced Decision Practitioners

Post-Conference Virtual Workshops
Title: "An Introduction to Decision Analysis"

Instructor:
J. Eric Bickel (University of Texas at Austin)

Date: June 13, 2024
Time: 7:00am to 11:00am PT

Workshop Abstract:      
In this workshop we will cover the foundations of decision analysis. This includes the fundamental concepts of risk preference and the personalistic view of probability, which set decision analysis apart from other approaches to decision making.

We explore the meaning of probability – and the fact probability does not exist. We will discuss how to capture risk preference and why we often assume risk neutrality (expected value) in practice – it is not because we are making many decisions. Finally, we learn how to place a value on information – reducing uncertainty does not add value.

This workshop is intended for:

New/Beginner Decision Practitioners
Intermediate Decision Practitioners

Post-Conference Virtual Workshops
Title: "Estuarine Mapping and the Evolutionary Potential of the Present"

Instructor:
Dave Snowden (Cynefin Co.)

Date: June 20, 2024
Time: 8:00am to 12:00pm PT

Workshop Abstract:      
Join leading complexity thinker Dave Snowden to explore a complexity-informed approach to navigating organisational strategy and change, understanding the evolutionary potential of the present in foresight. Estuarine Mapping is the latest framework from the creator of the Cynefin framework and is gaining traction worldwide in industry and government as a tool to approach decision-making, strategy, conflict, direction-setting and a host of other needs in complex contexts. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, you will learn methods to assess the constraints at play, to manage the energy gradients to lower the cost of change, whilst allowing for emergence along the way. Explore how the Estuarine framework links into radical new means of distributed decision-making at the intersections of technology and human sense-making, to find novel possibilities along the path. This workshop also covers: what we can change and manage in a complex environment, what we do when simple goals don’t work, how to plan for uncertainty, how to combine grand vision with day-to-day tactics

This workshop is intended for:
Intermediate Decision Practitioners
Experienced Decision Practitioners