Systematic Leadership Decision De‑risking Improved Decision Quality by 33 %

Top leadership decision-making in large organisations faces significant challenges, leading to a notable rate of failure and underperformance in major initiatives. 90% of companies typically overrun costs in large capex projects 50–80% of M&As fail to generate or destroy shareholder value Budget allocations correlate 90% year-on-year, missing growth opportunities.

Insight: No decision is unbiased, but damaging influence can be mitigated

Leadership decisions are influenced by well-understood psychological processes, resulting in the following traps:

• Sunk costs: Sticking with bad investments to justify past decisions
• False consensus: Overestimating alignment in the room
• Halo effect: Trusting people we like, not those with the best insights

Fact: Decision hygiene is six times more important than analysis in driving performance.

The Solution: Systematic decision de-risking

We built a systematic programme for top executives, delivering targeted interventions and empowering them to use behavioural tools and techniques to overcome imperfections in their individual and collective decision-making.

• Targeted behavioural training: Half-day executive session plus 12-week coaching
• Live decision audits: Real-time behavioural checks on high-stakes choices
• Embedded process upgrades: Behavioural safeguards applied across key decision points

The Results

• +33 NPS increase in leadership satisfaction with decision-making
• Demand for expansion of the programme across business units
• Better resource allocation, smarter risk-taking, and stronger leadership alignment

Big Takeaway

Great decisions do not just happen. They are engineered.