Effective strategic decision-making has become a critical skill for business leaders in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. However, numerous barriers can hinder the process, impairing informed decision-making and team alignment. The Art and Science of Effective Communication in Strategic Decision-making aims to address these barriers and explore ways to overcome these pitfalls, such as cognitive biases, groupthink, emotional triggers, and lack of structured strategic frameworks. 

The presentation will explore an approach to structuring strategic choices. It will provide an example of a framework that provides a structured approach as a tool and explores how teams assess and align a firm's objectives. We will explore the articulation of critical decision criteria, the generation of diverse options, and the systematic evaluation of these options to make informed choices. 

While decision-making plays a crucial role in strategy formation, effective group communication is crucial to achieving informed decisions that build alignment, clarity, and commitment. The presentation covers the skillsets necessary for effectively guiding discussions, testing assumptions, advocating positions, inquiring into others' reasoning, and updating/modifying one's beliefs based on new information. We will explore practical techniques for fostering open dialogue, summarizing different positions, and learning to disagree skillfully. By honing these communication skills, leaders foster a collaborative decision-making culture that maximizes the organization's collective intelligence.

About the Speaker

In 1985, Bill Underwood co-founded Catalyst Consulting Team with Sean Gerrity, emerging from their startup work with Boston University’s Executive Challenge Program in Santa Cruz, CA.

Bill designs and leads leadership programs focused on organizational effectiveness, strategic leadership, managerial skills, and high-performing teamwork. He coaches executive leaders and their teams on implementing their vision and strategy, selecting strategic choices, and aligning company culture with leadership behaviors. Clients learn to engage in productive dialogue that results in informed decisions to actions.

The core of Bill’s practice is consulting and coaching leaders and teams. He applies best practices from cognitive, emotional, and behavioral sciences to help organizations confront the pressing challenges they face. Bill focuses on the knowing-doing gaps, supporting people to close the gaps between their aspirations and results. Clients learn to utilize their differences to advance intelligent progress. His coaching and personal facilitation create meaningful relationships that encourage fully showing up with others in an increasingly complex world.

Areas of Expertise

• Background in cognitive psychology, organizational learning, Action Science, general semantics, and mindfulness.

• Designs innovative training programs in strategic leadership, team development, strategic choice structuring, change and transition, and productive conversations.

• Uses a research-based team intervention approach, focused on human dynamics relating to strategic alignment, managing change, and developing high-performing work relationships.

• Pioneered web-based collaboration technology with GroupMind Express in 1994, to augment the quality of human interaction and decision-making.

• Builds and facilitates experiential simulations for management and team development, such as BigPicture™ and other experiential games.

Clients: Bill’s clients include Adobe Systems, Airbnb, Autodesk, Cisco Systems, eBay, Google, Lyft, Maxim, NetApp, PayPal, Splunk, Square, and VMware. Bill devotes time to working with nonprofits locally in Santa Cruz and internationally with a South African NGO providing services for HIV and AIDS prevention.