Making the right decision is easy. Just ask anyone who wasn’t responsible for it!

At this year’s CIONET Summer Festival, we’re bringing together those who actually have to make the call, for an honest look at The Art of Judgement, a chance to reconnect and a few laughs about how obvious everything becomes in hindsight.

The figures support the investment, but a colleague whose judgement you trust thinks it is a mistake. Your team wants another month to investigate, while the opportunity may disappear sooner. You’ve heard the arguments, and now everyone is looking at you. Preferably for an answer before lunch.

More information might help. But waiting is also a choice, and the experience we rely on can leave us attached to assumptions that no longer hold. And when a decision works out, it’s tempting to credit our judgement without asking how much luck helped.

So, do we examine successful decisions as carefully as disappointing ones? When should we trust experience, and when should we question it? How do we encourage others to challenge our thinking while still giving them a clear direction? And once we’ve committed, what would persuade us to change course?