Decision making involves applying structured, evidence-based approaches to make informed business choices that drive organisational success. This concept is crucial as it empowers teams to evaluate options systematically, ensuring that decisions are not based on intuition alone but on data, analysis, and collective insights. By fostering a culture of informed decision making, organisations can enhance their ability to deliver value predictably and sustainably.
Effective decision making integrates various methodologies, such as Lean and Agile principles, which emphasise iterative learning and responsiveness to change. This enables teams to adapt quickly to new information and market dynamics, reducing the risk of costly missteps. Moreover, decision making is inherently systemic; it influences and is influenced by organisational culture, team dynamics, and strategic goals.
By prioritising evidence-based choices, organisations can cultivate a mindset of continuous improvement, where decisions are regularly revisited and refined based on outcomes and feedback. This long-term focus not only enhances operational efficiency but also aligns teams towards common objectives, ultimately driving innovation and competitive advantage. The ability to make sound decisions consistently is a cornerstone of organisational agility and resilience, ensuring that teams remain responsive and effective in a rapidly evolving landscape.
The strongest work on Decision Making — ranked by substance, not recency. How this is ranked
Telling People What to Do Is Not Leadership. It’s a Failure of System Design
Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability, rather than relying on …
The Estimation Trap: How Tracking Accuracy Undermines Trust, Flow, and Value in Software Delivery
Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and …
Every delay increases the risk of failure
Delaying software releases increases failure risk. Frequent, small releases improve success rates, adaptability, and recovery, as shown by …
Why Measuring Individual Cycle Time Fails to Help Teams
Measuring individual cycle time overlooks team performance and system bottlenecks. Focus on lead time, throughput, and process efficiency to …
Stop Guessing: How to Make Work Visible and Drive Real Improvement with Azure DevOps Flow Metrics
Stop guessing, start making data-driven decisions in Azure DevOps. Discover tools, tips, and insights to make your work visible and your …
How to Stop Chasing Tech Hype and Start Making Smarter, Evidence-Based Decisions
Tired of chasing tech hype? Discover how disciplined, evidence-based decisions drive real agility and lasting competitive advantage for your …
The Problem with Incompetent Scrum Masters: Why Lack of Skills in Team Context Results in Poor ROI
Incompetent Scrum Masters reduce team performance and ROI by lacking key skills. Learn how to measure their impact using innovation, usage, …
Metrics that matter with evidence-based management
Explains how evidence-based management uses reliable metrics and KPIs at team and organisational levels to drive better decisions, value …
Transforming Waste into Value: How to Boost ROI with Agile Metrics
Learn how agile metrics like innovation rate, product index, usage index, and version adoption help identify waste and improve ROI by …
Telling People What to Do Is Not Leadership. It’s a Failure of System Design
Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability, rather than relying on …
The Estimation Trap: How Tracking Accuracy Undermines Trust, Flow, and Value in Software Delivery
Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and …
Metrics that matter with evidence-based management
Explains how evidence-based management uses reliable metrics and KPIs at team and organisational levels to drive better decisions, value …
Human and AI Agency in Adaptive Systems: Strategy Before Optimisation
Explores the distinct roles of human and AI agency in adaptive systems, emphasising human-led strategy and accountability versus AI-driven …
Announcing Professional Agile Leadership with Evidence-Based Management Training (PAL-EBM) from Scrum.org
Learn about Scrum.org’s new PAL-EBM training, which helps leaders use evidence-based management and custom metrics to align teams with …
Evidence-based Management: Gathering the metrics
Explains how to gather key metrics for evidence-based management in software organisations, focusing on value delivery, time to market, and …
Product Goal is an Intermediate Strategic Goal
Explains how product goals serve as intermediate strategic goals, guiding agile organisations through uncertainty using experimentation, …
What my father taught me about Evidence-based Management (34 years before it was invented!)
Explores how evidence-based management uses data-driven practices to improve organisational agility, value delivery, and decision-making in …
Stop Guessing: How to Make Work Visible and Drive Real Improvement with Azure DevOps Flow Metrics
Stop guessing, start making data-driven decisions in Azure DevOps. Discover tools, tips, and insights to make your work visible and your …
How to Stop Chasing Tech Hype and Start Making Smarter, Evidence-Based Decisions
Tired of chasing tech hype? Discover how disciplined, evidence-based decisions drive real agility and lasting competitive advantage for your …
The Problem with Incompetent Scrum Masters: Why Lack of Skills in Team Context Results in Poor ROI
Incompetent Scrum Masters reduce team performance and ROI by lacking key skills. Learn how to measure their impact using innovation, usage, …
Stop Chasing Tech Hype: How Evidence-Based Decisions Empower Real Leadership
Stop chasing tech trends. Learn how evidence, visibility, and clarity empower tech leaders to make confident, strategic decisions, beyond …
How CTOs Can Cut Through the Noise: Building Real Clarity and Confidence in a World of AI Hype and Microservices Madness
Overwhelmed by tech trends? Learn how CTOs can cut through the noise, gain clarity, and lead with confidence, without chasing every shiny …
Unlocking Unrealised Value: The Key to Elevating Your Product Development Strategy
Explains how identifying and validating unrealised value, understanding user needs, and rapid feedback loops can enhance product development …
Mastering Product Development Costs: Empower Your Team for Financial Success
Learn how to track, manage, and optimise product development costs by empowering teams with financial awareness, key metrics, and continuous …
Transforming Waste into Value: How to Boost ROI with Agile Metrics
Learn how agile metrics like innovation rate, product index, usage index, and version adoption help identify waste and improve ROI by …
Maximising Product Value: The Power of Hypothesis-Driven Engineering
Explores how hypothesis-driven engineering helps teams maximise product value by testing ideas, measuring outcomes, and learning from …
The Evidence-Based Management Guide 2020: Improving Value Delivery under Conditions of Uncertainty
Kendall Guide - A System of Work for AI Adoption
Evidence-Based Portfolio Management
50 resources, newest first
How to Measure Your Organization's Ability to Improve Value Through Innovation
Learn how to assess and improve your organisation’s innovation capability using evidence-based management and key metrics like technical …
Unlocking Business Value: The Power of Evidence-Based Management for Effective Leadership
Explains how evidence-based management uses data-driven decisions and tailored metrics to boost business value, leadership effectiveness, …
How to Discover Unrealized Value in Your Product
Learn how to identify and measure unrealised value in your product using Evidence-Based Management, key metrics, and actionable steps to …
How Do You Know the Value Currently Delivered in Your Organization?
Learn how Evidence-Based Management helps organisations measure delivered value using key metrics like customer satisfaction, employee …
The Importance of Evidence-Based Management in Agile Environments
Explains how evidence-based management helps Agile teams use data and key metrics to measure progress, make informed decisions, and drive …
Ditching Agile Banditry: Why Story Points and Velocity Metrics Are Undermining Your Team's Success
Explores how relying on story points and velocity can harm Agile teams, advocating for objective metrics like cycle time and throughput to …
Transform Your Leadership: The Power of Evidence-Based Management in Agile
Discover how evidence-based management empowers Agile leaders to make data-driven decisions, foster continuous improvement, and boost team …
Agile Leadership: Empowering Managers with the Right Skills
Explores how agile leadership and evidence-based management training help managers develop servant leadership skills, delegate effectively, …
Harnessing the Power of Empiricism: Transform Your Decision-Making with Data-Driven Insights
Learn how using empirical, data-driven methods can improve decision-making, foster continuous improvement, and build trust through …
Unlocking Effective Product Development: How a Hypothesis-Driven Approach Transforms User Experience
Explains how a hypothesis-driven approach, small experiments, and cross-team collaboration improve product development, user experience, and …
Why did so many of the early agile transformations fail?
Early agile transformations often failed due to top-down decisions, lack of team involvement, and misalignment between leadership and those …
What is the hardest part of working with a brand-new scrum team?
The biggest challenge with new scrum teams is overcoming misconceptions about scrum and shifting focus from process mechanics to core agile …
How is agile product development different to waterfall project management?
Compares agile product development and waterfall project management, highlighting differences in decision-making, delivery, customer …
Announcing Professional Agile Leadership with Evidence-Based Management Training (PAL-EBM) from Scrum.org
Learn about Scrum.org’s new PAL-EBM training, which helps leaders use evidence-based management and custom metrics to align teams with …
Evidence-based Management: Gathering the metrics
Explains how to gather key metrics for evidence-based management in software organisations, focusing on value delivery, time to market, and …
Product Goal is an Intermediate Strategic Goal
Explains how product goals serve as intermediate strategic goals, guiding agile organisations through uncertainty using experimentation, …
Evidence-Based Portfolio Management
What my father taught me about Evidence-based Management (34 years before it was invented!)
Explores how evidence-based management uses data-driven practices to improve organisational agility, value delivery, and decision-making in …
The Evidence-Based Management Guide 2020: Improving Value Delivery under Conditions of Uncertainty
Metrics that matter with evidence-based management
Explains how evidence-based management uses reliable metrics and KPIs at team and organisational levels to drive better decisions, value …