Data for Decision Making

Here's a question that should be uncomfortable. The last consequential recommendation you made — could you defend every assumption behind it, in front of a skeptical board, today? For most leaders, the honest answer is somewhere between 'mostly' and 'I'd rather not.' And that gap — between the analysis we do and the analysis we can defend — is exactly where this course lives.

Modern leaders face a paradox. They have access to more information than any generation before them — and they are still asked to make consequential choices on incomplete data, shifting conditions, and short timelines.

If you've ever owned a high-stakes call where the data was incomplete, the deadline was Friday, and three credible teams disagreed about what to do — you've seen it. The gap between having information and making a defensible decision is where good leaders separate from the rest.

This course closes that gap. Data for Decision Making is built around four progressive disciplines — foundations, practical tools, probability and risk, and AI-assisted communication — that turn structured analysis into a leadership capability. You'll work with the frameworks executives actually reach for: weighted decision matrices, cost-benefit analysis, RICE and ICE scoring, SWOT, decision trees, Monte Carlo simulation, Bayesian updating, and the responsible use of AI.

But this isn't a theory course. You'll apply every concept to a decision you actually face through a Learning Journal, and follow two case simulations — a CRM selection and an AI platform pilot. By the end, you'll be able to produce a Data-Driven Decision Recommendation Report — the artifact leaders use to defend a call to executives and boards.

Data-driven decision making is the discipline that connects analytical rigor to executive judgment. It's how leaders stop drowning in dashboards and start producing recommendations they can defend. And as AI becomes embedded in every analytical workflow, knowing how to use these tools responsibly — and explain them clearly — is no longer optional.