Anatomy Of A Decision, Part 5: The West Wing

GLG has produced a new series of videos focused on decision making in the business world.

As part of the series, GLG, the world's leading membership network for professional learning, has interviewed a number of business leaders to ask about what considerations go into making important decisions.

In this installment, GLG spoke with Jake Sullivan, a former advisor to former President Barack Obama, about critical decisions involved in the policy-making process in Washington.

Decision Making And Strategic Unpredictability

Sullivan played a critical role in the Obama administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran. He said no matter how confident he was in the work the administration had put into the deal, the moment when the president asked his opinion on whether or not they should accept the final terms was very difficult.

“Being able to make that decision to recommend to the president that we go ahead and do this deal required stepping back from the anxiety, the emotion, the nerve-wracking idea that maybe we were going to screw this thing up and actually systematically running a cost benefit analysis,” he said. By taking emotion out of the equation, he saw that the benefits of the deal far outweighed the cost.

“The hard thing about a decision like that is that somebody can always come along, and many did, and say you could have gotten a better deal. And you have to be prepared to stand there, look people in the eye and say, ‘I believe this is a good deal and it’s as good as we are going to be able to do right now.’”

Sullivan also addressed the unpredictability of the Trump administration and whether or not unpredictability can be an advantage when it comes to foreign policy. He said unpredictability can be an advantage, but it should be used rarely and strategically.

“Richard Nixon actually talked about the crazy man theory of foreign policy, and there are moments for that, but it can’t be every moment. And I think that is what makes the current situation quite challenging.”

Related Links:

Anatomy Of A Decision, Part 1: The C-Suite

Anatomy Of A Decision, Part 2: The Newsroom

Anatomy Of A Decision, Part 3: Minorities In The Boardroom

Anatomy of a Decision, Part 4: The Admissions Office