Origins of DecisionStar
Hello! I'm Dr. B.
I created DecisionStar to help people be more proactive, creative, and effective through decision-making wisdom.
For most of my career, I was an R&D manager at NASA.
As a decision scientist, I've worked for years at the intersection of decision making, design thinking, leadership, and communication.
I did research on design-team decision making at NASA and Stanford, all the while working full time at NASA in challenging leadership and management roles, such as Chief of the Space Biosciences Division, Systems Engineering Manager for the Advanced Air Traffic Technology Program, R&D Portfolio Manager for Knowledge Engineering for Safety and Success and Human and Organizational Risk Management.
As Director of the Ames Project Excellence Program, I led an effort to develop emerging leaders in project management and systems engineering through training, mentoring, and knowledge sharing.
I've always seen Decision Science as a source of practical tools and insights to help keep projects, programs, teams and organizations on track for success.
Stanford was my "home away from home" for over ten years.
At Stanford, I learned Decision Analysis from the founder of the field, and became an expert at applying diagrams and mathematical models to improve decision quality.
I was a visiting researcher at the Stanford Center for Design Research, and a fellow of the inaugural d.school summer program (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford).
Oh yeah... I also got married there.
After leaving NASA, I created an MBA program at Sofia University in Palo Alto, CA.
Originally founded in 1975 as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Sofia continues to be shaped by that legacy. The environment was stimulating, inspiring, and transformational. I had amazing students and colleagues there, and many opportunities to meet interesting people and share ideas with deep thinkers.
With Gyatso Rinpoche 加措活佛 in the Sofia library.
At Sofia, I had opportunities for many deep conversations about fundamental issues, such as duality in decision making.
With Deepak Chopra at a Sofia commencement ceremony.
The holistic approach I developed at Sofia incorporates mindfulness and contemplation to bring insight, intuition, creativity, and clarity to your challenging decisions.
With Dr. Robert Frager at a Sofia commencement ceremony.
I was inspired to incorporate transformative learning and Transpersonal Psychology in my Decision Science course, which became a creative, expressive journey of discovery and personal growth.
My time at Sofia completely transformed my perspective on what decisions are, and how to make better ones. I realized that the very idea of a decision is powerful and liberating when approached from a deeper, holistic perspective.
Now I see decisions as opportunities to create meaningful change in your life, to reach your highest potential, to express yourself deeply, to develop lasting wisdom, and to grow.
At Sofia, I taught Decision Science to over 170 graduate students, the majority of them working full time in demanding occupations.
I showed course participants how to apply four specific tools to challenging decisions they were currently making. According to an anonymous survey of course participants:
- 91% expected to use all four tools in the future.
- 100% expected to use three of the four tools again.
- 100% indicated they acquired valuable tools and insights they would use again, and would recommended the course to others.
Course participants provided feedback that helped me take the system to an even higher level, so DecisionStar can create value for you from the moment you start using it.
Acknowledgement
DecisionStar is a synthesis of the most effective concepts and tools I acquired over decades of decision-making research and practical application of decision science knowledge. DecisionStar integrates diverse concepts and methods from management science, decision analysis, design thinking, transpersonal psychology and experiential learning. It has been shaped significantly by my transformational experiences at Sofia University, and fundamentally by the decision science and design-thinking knowledge I acquired from my teachers and fellow doctoral students from Stanford MS&E and CDR, mentors from Strategic Decisions Group, and my mentors and collaborators at NASA. My debts to others are too numerous to list here, but I must thank Professor Ron Howard of Stanford for sparking my original interest in Decision Analysis and for supervising my doctoral research. Professor Howard's humanistic perspective on decision-making goes far deeper and wider than the methods of Decision Analysis, for which he is widely known, and my debt to him is substantial, but please hold him blameless for any of my own wild ideas or misinterpretation of things he taught.