The Decision Papers

  • The Decision Papers — The Ulysses Pact: When a Clear Mind Binds a Future One. Banner with an ink drawing of Odysseus bound to the mast of his ship.

    I.11 — The Ulysses Pact: When a Clear Mind Binds a Future One

    “Bind me as I stand upright, with a bond so fast that I cannot possibly break away … and if I beg and pray you to set me free, then bind me more tightly still.” — Homer On his way home from war, Odysseus must pass the Sirens, whose song is so beautiful it overwhelms…

    The Decision Papers
  • The Decision Papers — Who Decided?: The Moral Ambiguity of the Split Self. Banner with an architectural line drawing of a divided structure.

    I.10 — Who Decided?: The Moral Ambiguity of the Split Self

    “The human soul is like a charioteer who must drive two horses: one is noble and of noble breed, the other is quite the opposite. The driving of them is necessarily difficult.” — Plato, Phaedrus The most haunting question in executive leadership does not follow the disaster you saw coming. It follows the unforced error.…

    The Decision Papers
  • The Decision Papers — Mandate Before Method: Who Has the Right to Steer? Banner with a dark ink wash brushstroke.

    I.3 — Mandate Before Method: Who Has the Right to Steer?

    “The safety of the people shall be the highest law.” — Cicero At 2:17 a.m. the system goes red, and the room is running on adrenaline. A downstream service is failing, the pager is screaming, and someone opens a terminal and finds a switch that appears to solve the problem in seconds. It is a…

    The Decision Papers