Managing with Style: A Guide to Understanding, Assessing, and Improving Decision Making

Alan Rowe and Richard Mason have written one of the clearest and most useful books available on how managers make decisions. While the work of Herbert Simon represents the basis for understanding decision making, Rowe and Mason have operationalized this science in a form useful in virtually every organization. The authors provide a simple 20 question test to determine a persons' style. Four basic elements make up an individual's decision style: analytic (rational thought); directive (results oriented); conceptual (vision & Creativity); and behavioral (understanding people). Every person has a dominant style combined with a backup style. Understanding the decision style of the people in your organization can provide valuable information when constructing teams and working to achieve maximum effectiveness among staff. Rowe and Mason provide a number of excellent examples of how style is used as well as the psychological basis for style. The book is written in a clear and easliy understood manner. Managing With Style should be a part of every leaders personal library.