Cheryl Strauss Einhorn is the founder and CEO of Decisive, a decision sciences company using her AREA Method decision-making system for individuals, companies, and nonprofits to solve complex problems. Decisive offers digital tools and in-person training, workshops, coaching, and consulting. Ms. Strauss Einhorn also teaches as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and Cornell Tech. She has won several journalism awards for her investigative stories about international political, business, and economic topics. She’s authored two books on complex problem solving: “Problem Solved,” for personal and professional decisions; and “Investing In Financial Research” about business, financial, and investment decisions. Ms. Strauss Einhorn is writing a new book about different decision-making approaches entitled “How You Decide.”
Framing and Breaking Down Complex ProblemsCornell Course
Course Overview
It can be messy and overwhelming to figure out how to solve complex problems. Where do you start? How do you know where to look for information and evaluate its quality and bias? How can you feel confident that you are making a careful and thoroughly researched decision? Whether you are navigating a career decision or expanding your business, this course will enable you to use the AREA Method decision-making system. AREA, created by Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, is an acronym for Absolute/Relative/Exploration/Exploitation/Analysis. It's a powerful system for making complex decisions with confidence and conviction. You will develop the conceptual awareness and shared nomenclature necessary to apply this innovative approach to your own problem-solving.
Note: Enjoy your digital copy of Cheryl Strauss Einhorn's e-book “Problem Solved” (New Jersey: Career Press, 2017), included with this course. While it is not necessary to read the book to successfully complete this course, this book will provide you with detailed case studies and a wealth of resources to assist your problem-solving and decision skill-building. You will continue to have access to the book as a reference after you have completed this course. If you would like to purchase a hard copy of the book, it is available from The Cornell Store or anywhere you buy books.
Key Course Takeaways
- Identify your complex problem and control for bias
- Use inversion to frame your complex problem
- Begin to break down the problem from the perspective of your Absolute Targets
How It Works
Course Author
Who Should Enroll
- Current and aspiring managers
- Senior executives
- Department heads (marketing, strategy, operations)
- Consumers
- Business consultants
- Life coaches
- Analysts and systems thinkers
- Entrepreneurs
- Engineers
- Wealth managers
- Investors
- Research directors
- Recent college graduates looking for best practices in decision-making
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