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| Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions | 
 enlarge | Author: Gary Klein
Publisher: The MIT Press
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy Used: $12.25
You Save: $15.75 (56%)
New (35) Used (22) from $12.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 10670
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 348
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.9 x 0.5
ISBN: 0262611465
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9780262611466
ASIN: 0262611465
Publication Date: February 26, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Satisfaction 100% guaranteed!
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| Customer Reviews:
 New Thoughts on Decision Making December 7, 1999
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
There is a lot of literature on how decisions should be made, but very little about how they are made under extreme pressure, when there is no time for heavy analysis. This books shows how experts at fast decision-making, such as firefighters and police officers, do it. It explains the value of lore and the fascination we all have with it. Importantly, it shows a lot about how to use lore to become an expert, oneself. It is a real contribution to decision-making literature.
 Great but not exactly about decision making. April 25, 2000
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
For someone with high management/administration responsibility, many of the examples and anecdotes described in the books would shed light on how your organisation as a whole could go wrong, eg, mis-communications, failure to spot symptoms due to inexperience of staff etc. But the bulk of the book is not (at least directly) on how individuals make decision in particular situations. It will be five stars if it could be more focused and systematic. Anyway if all the lessons are remembered and applied, a manager will make much less management mistakes and devise better management systems to avoid those mistakes. All in all, a very good and rare book.
A very readable book that talks to the reader March 10, 1999
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
Although I am not a professional in this area, I have had many experiences that required me to learn how people make decisions. This book goes a long way toward explaining these processes and provides plenty of examples to learn from. Not only does Gary Klein present his results, he covers how the data were obtained, its analysis, his assumptions, and how the conclusions were reached. It provides great insight into one's own thinking and decision making process. I was truly amazed at how readable this book was and how thoroughly real life examples were analyzed. I would recommend it to anyone in any field.
Excellent book November 24, 1999
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a superb book which describes how people actually make decisions and not some work telling how they should. It is an easy read and superbly amplifies the author's many articles on similar subjects in magazines such as The Marine Corps Gazette and those published with John Schmidt. Should be considered "a must" for anyone who truly desires to better understand the human decisionmaking process.
Virtuosity in Decision Making September 16, 2005
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is packed with insights, substantiated by research and observation.
Klein takes some valid issue with traditional decision-making theorists. For instance, he notes that the "tests" which demonstrate that the availiability heuristic (a phenomenon which contaminates decisions) uses selective data which thereby skews the results. It seems that where Klein is going with this exposition, and the whole of the book, is to say that you can't rely on decision-making rigors.
The case studies are fascinating and they provide a compelling argument for the "something else" that takes over in high-stakes, complex decision-making contexts. Elegant, brilliant decision-makers don't list pros and cons, nor delibertately cite heuristics at play or even run simulation models with likely payoffs. Rather, they have a store of knowledge -- stories, vignettes and ideas they have seen played out. That, Klein says, is expertise. At the end of the day, expertise in what he calls "natural" settings (i.e., not classrooms nor computers) is what is at the heart of brilliant decisions.
However, the utility of this book is not that it replaces traditional decision-making theory, in my humble opinion. One might conclude that Klein has proven that trusting your gut and going on instinct is the preferred decision-making technique. Instead, what this book shows -- wonderfully -- is the virtuousity in decision-making that can be attained after years of disciplined decsion-making. You can't get to virtuosity without practice -- be it in art, music, sports and even decision-making.
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