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programs, workshops, learning material, SMEs et cetera that have been designed and
developed over the decades around these tools. Table 2 exhibits some of the widely-used
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tools in both the universes.

Similarly, organizations driven by Sales & Marketing, their mandate for L&D teams is more
often a categorical focus on developing Sales & Negotiation skills, Customer Satisfaction
etc. across functions. Xerox’s huge investments in creating an enviable direct sales force
with technical expertise, long terms customer relationship and deep product (not technical)
knowledge which were its denominating strength were also the very reason for its lethargy
and reluctance to change when the need arose

Organizations driven by technology and technical innovations have serious stakes in
predicting the future with reasonable accuracy. But, they tend to get obsessed and lost in
Technical tweaks and engineering breakthroughs which often results in over engineered
offerings to a not – yet – ready market. The case of the Satellite phone, the demise of
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Iridium and the resulting consequences for Motorola is a grim reminder for the same

Consequences in all the above instances can be a less than optimal performance for the
organization. To avoid disaster similar to what befell a Sears, a Xerox or an Iridium, it is important that L&D professionals helps their organization
migrate from Certainty to Uncertainty in terms of business environment, from Risk to Ambiguity in terms of available information, from known into
the unknown and further into the unknowable in terms of building leadership capabilities. By using tools designed for developing competency in
handling uncertainty and ambiguity.

The Challenge ahead for L&D professionals: Rise above the obvious

L&D teams and professionals must be careful while delineating their approach towards building competencies in decision making in an ambiguous and
uncertain environment. Table 2 used in conjunction with Figure 4 can assist L&D professionals identify appropriate tools that may prove useful in this
connection for their respective organization. Learning initiatives can then be designed around the chosen tools. The following are the challenges that
must be addressed while designing suitable learning initiatives.

1. L&D must spearhead initiatives into exploring new approaches in decision making – especially those tools which help the managers handle
uncertain and insufficient information for decision making. The choice and selection of tools should be determined by the nature of business
and the markets the organization operates in. It is important for L&D professionals to note that it is very likely that visible reluctance and
resistance

2. L&D professionals must evaluate how much each approach diverges from the traditional decision making philosophy and methodology of
the organization. It is very important to assess this divergence, since if the approach advocates complete break away from conventional and
practiced approach, it is very likely that it will meet with strong resistance and thereby nullify L&D efforts to catalyze change in the decision-
making process.

3. Multiple tools should be assessed, and instead of preferring one approach over the other, L&D must consider designing workshops around
multiple approaches or tools – highlighting situations where each approach have their own unique benefits.

4. L&D professionals themselves may not be SMEs in all, some or any of these tools but that must not stop them from evaluating the benefits
of the tools by connecting up with SMEs within and outside the organization to evaluate the applications, benefits and usefulness of each
tool in different business situations. However, it is advisable L&D professional choose one or two tools and develop themselves as SMEs in
them. This will also help them to assess the learning outcome of the program at regular intervals and initiate course corrections or reassess
the usefulness of the tool for the business, where required.

5. Every manager and leader may not be on the same page as far as the Decision-Making competency is concerned. Moreover, the readiness
for accepting a fresh and often habit changing approach towards decision making, may not be the same for all middle level and senior
managers. It is therefore important to avoid a bucket approach at class room based or instructor led sessions. It is important to gather like-
minded individuals who are mutually at the same level of competency and at the same stage of readiness together and create tailor made
workshops for such small groups. This will also help create Change ambassadors within the organization which can be of immense assistance
to the L&D team to spearhead and promote change in mental habits

11 Subject Matter Experts

12 Brilliant Mistakes by Schoemaker

13 Iridium is the pioneer of Mobile Satellite Services which was the result of ten year of research and development by Motorola. The Iridium communications service was launched on

November 1, 1998 and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 13, 1999. Iridium’s failure was largely due to insufficient demand for the service and poor management. The cost for the
equipment and service was out of the range for most customers. Originally the handset was at $1300.00 and the service was at $7.00 per minute. Even though Iridium was offering world-wide
coverage the bulkiness of the handset and high cost of the service discouraged customers from subscribing to the service. After spending over $5 billion on the Iridium system they only were
able to obtain 55,000 subscribers. https://www.globalcomsatphone.com/phone-articles/history-of-the-handheld