Julian L.Simon – Developing Decision-Making Skills for Business

Experiment! The single most important suggestion in this book is–try it. Theory is fine but action is essential; execute an idea or strategy in several different ways before giving up. Simon, an academic and prolific writer, died before this book could be published, and the manuscript was edited by his wife and son. The author offers guidance on how to build effective decision-making skills and develop strong interpersonal relationships with coworkers and clients. He addresses skills that stem from mental discipline ranging from making business decisions to choosing life goals and even knowing how to get to sleep quickly. In part one he suggests that you must know your goals and must specify your criteria for success in life in order to benefit from the information in part two, which describes the analytical process for choosing a course of action from among similar options. Parts three and four address creating ideas, obtaining relevant information, evaluating the alternatives, and drawing conclusions, as well as applications of new knowledge.

Julian L. Simon, until his death in 1998, was Professor of Business Administration at the University of Maryland and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Among his books are Population and Development in Poor Countries: Selected Essays (Princeton), The Economic Consequences of Immigration to the United States, Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment, and Immigration, and The State of Humanity.