2024 SDP Annual Conference

2024 Workshops

Empower Your Choices: Navigating the Dynamics of Tomorrow - 2024 Workshops at the SDP Annual Conference, Focused on Effective Decision-Making in a Dynamic World.

Workshop Menu

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Pre-Conference | April 15, 2024 (In-person Only)

Workshop Title: Ready, Aim, Frame – Becoming Powerful Decision Framers

April 15, 2024 (8:00am - 12:00pm ET)

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

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Ellen Coopersmith, President, Decision Frameworks

Ellen Coopersmith is the founder of Decision Frameworks and has been with the company since the very beginning in 1999. She specializes in Decision Analysis consultation, facilitation, training, and implementation. Her passion for decision and risk analysis focuses on skill development, framing, uncertainty analysis and valuing information. Prior to founding Decision Frameworks, she led one of the oil industry’s most successful...

Ray Spence, Sr. Consultant, Decision Frameworks

Ray Spence is a Senior Consultant at Decision Frameworks. He has been with the company since 2017. Ray has supported numerous projects in the upstream and midstream oil and gas business as well as portfolio planning, manufacturing and country entry strategy. He is often a go-to for client software support and has extensive experience teaching DQ concepts and leading DQ and software uptake amongst clients. Ray has a B.S. in Petroleum...

Ashley Corso, Consultant, Decision Frameworks

Ashley Corso is a lead consultant at Decision Frameworks. She joined the team in 2019. She instructs courses on decision quality and develops new course materials. Utilizing Decision Frameworks’ scenario thinking approach to decision framing, Ashley is adept at supporting projects ranging from technology commercialization, pharmaceutical drug development, subsidiary divestiture, exploration, appraisal, and development strategy for onshore and...

April 15, 2024 (8:00am - 12:00pm ET)

Workshop Abstract:

Dive deep into the fascinating world of biases and discover how they shape our decisions, often without us even realizing it. Whether you're just starting your journey into understanding biases or looking to refine your expertise, this workshop is for you.

A maze of uncertainty, novelty or complexity lie at the heart of many decisions. While Decision Analysis (DA) provides us with powerful tools to navigate this maze, it's essential to ensure our decisions aren't clouded by hidden biases – bias, rather than uncertainty itself, is a major cause of poor decisions, and thus undesirable outcomes. Subject matter expertise provides no protection from these biases and can even amplify them!

In this engaging workshop, we'll not only delve into the science behind biases but also embrace the lighter side, exploring the amusing "quirks" of human “reasoning”. Through interactive demonstrations and discussions, you'll gain insights into:

The intricate relationship between decision-making, judgment, and our brain's inner workings.
The pitfalls of using intuition, especially in uncertain, novel or complex situations.
The value-destroying impact of biases on decision outcomes (regardless of how “value” is measured)
Effective strategies to recognize and counteract biases.
A deep dive into the most prevalent and impactful biases.
Visual illusions as a captivating metaphor to understand and remember bias concepts.

This workshop is intended for:

New/Beginner Decision Practitioners
Intermediate Decision Practitioners
Experience Decision Practioners

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Reidar Bratvold, University of Stavanger

Reidar B Bratvold is a professor of decision and data analytics at the University of Stavanger. His research interests include decision analysis, data assimilation and analytics, portfolio analysis, and behavioral challenges in decision making. Prior to academia, Reidar spent 15 years in the industry in various technical and management roles. He is co-author of the book Making Good Decisions and has served as an SPE Distinguished Lecturer...

Steve Begg, The University of Adelaide

Steve Begg is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Adelaide. His focus is on tools and processes for decision-making under uncertainty; bias identification, impact quantification and mitigation; project/asset and portfolio economic evaluations. Prior to academia he spent 19 years in industry in a variety of technical and management roles related to uncertainty assessment/modeling, economic evaluation and decision-making. He has twice...

Workshop Title: An Introduction to Decision Analysis

April 15, 2024 (1:00pm - 5:00pm ET)

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

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

J. ERIC BICKEL, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Eric Bickel is Professor and Director of the Operations Research and Industrial Engineering program at The University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a courtesy appointment within the McCombs School of Business. Eric is a partner at Strategic Decisions Group, which he joined in 1995. Eric has almost 30 years of experience applying decision analysis to major corporate decisions. He has worked in oil and gas, electric power, chemicals,...

April 15, 2024 (1:00pm - 5:00pm ET)

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

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Dave Snowden, CTO and Founder of the Cynefin Co

Dave Snowden is a leading thinker in decision-making and complexity globally, the creator of the Cynefin Framework and originator of SenseMaker®, the world’s first distributed ethnography tool. He is the lead author of Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: A field guide for decision-makers, a shared effort between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, and the Cynefin Centre....

Workshop Title: When Things Go Wrong: Project Triage and Rescue

April 19, 2024 (8:00am - 12:00pm ET)

Workshop Abstract:

Things have become difficult. The project is rapidly coming to an impasse. People are upset and value is being destroyed. Don’t jump. There are ways to rescue a project. We have all been exposed to projects that are or have become problematic. We may be a part of a floundering project. We may have inherited a mess from another facilitator, team, or evil consultant. Maybe problems have developed as the project progressed. In this workshop we will examine and apply a triage-based approach to identifying causes and rescuing projects. We will play out scenarios, examine the varied sources and common angst-fraught issues, and provide tools and techniques to supportively approach endangered, stalled, or threatened projects. We will cover what and how to rescue from the perspective of a team member and that of a facilitator.

First, stop the on-going damage. Issues may arise from within the team, from someplace else within the company or operating entity, or sadly, caused by you or the “application” of your process. In emergency medicine you attack the issue that is going to kill the patient first. We shall do the same for a project. Identify and deal with the most critical (material) issues first. There are several different causal arenas that create blockage, stagnation (analysis paralysis), or disruption (conflict). They may be organizational, objective-conflict based, process-related.

Prevent – Triage – Treat – Support – Prevent.

Prevent (avoid, mitigate,) project failure when we can. Triage problems/threats to success and stop the damage. Treat to solve the prioritized material issues. Establish good project Support and monitor ongoing project health, Preventing further issues. It is not true that you need a crisis to be a hero, but when problems arise, having options and a structured approach at hand can make all the difference. Effective and timely action can provide great benefit as well as being personally satisfying.

This workshop is intended for:

New/Beginner Decision Practitioners
Intermediate Decision Practitioners

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS

William (Bill) Haskett, Haskett Consulting International

Bill Haskett is an SDP Fellow with over 35 years of experience guiding teams, companies, and countries in decision support and project rescue in both the qualitative and quantitative phases. He is Managing Director of the Haskett Consulting International companies in the US and Canada. Having taught teams and facilitated projects across six continents, he has faced many difficult strategic, portfolio, organizational, project management, and...

Nazli Azimikor, The University of British Columbia

Nazli Azimikor is a Facilitator, engineer, project manager, and change management specialist who provides decision support in the evaluation and execution of high-quality decisions. Throughout her career and community activity, Nazli has developed a diverse application of her skills most notably in the areas of project management, strategy development, and work culture transformation within infrastructure and utility companies. Nazli is the...

April 19, 2024 (8:00am - 12:00pm ET)

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:

New/Beginner Decision Practitioners
Intermediate Decision Practitioners
Experienced Decision Practitioners

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Jay Andersen, Oaken Table Consulting (ex-Eli Lilly)

Jay Andersen, Ph.D., is a Fellow and a two-time Board Member of the Society of Decision Professionals. He retired as Senior Research Fellow from Eli Lilly in 2017 following a 28-year career. While at Lilly, Jay was an internal consultant to senior management on decision analysis and decision quality processes. He was instrumental in the design and application of the R&D portfolio process and was a portfolio consultant for senior...

Bruce Judd, Strategic Decisions Group

Bruce Judd, Ph.D., is a Fellow and former Board Member of the Society of Decision Professionals. He is affiliated with Strategic Decisions Group, where he founded and led SDG’s Executive Education Practice. He also has decades of experience as a consultant in diverse industries, and he has taught in MBA programs for over 20 years at Stanford, where he earned his Ph.D., and Northwestern. The Society awarded Dr. Judd their Pioneer Award, which,...