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Review: Decisions That Carry: How Leaders Build Trust Through Judgement, Data and Story

Decisions That Carry: How Leaders Build Trust Through Judgement, Data and Story Decisions That Carry: How Leaders Build Trust Through Judgement, Data and Story by Fiona McDonnell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had the privilege of being a beta reader, and then I just read the final version on my Kindle.

Fiona is an authentic person and, naturally, an authentic writer - I know that firsthand, having studied with her more than a quarter of a century ago. I like that her writing and books are practical and accessible.

Her first book Two Mirrors And A Cheetah: Think Differently, Own Your Career & Succeed By Being Yourself offered honest, open insight into anxiety and debilitating panic attacks. This second and timely book opens with a very personal medical condition that took her and her family by surprise and caused her to think carefully about data, real data, and how we use it to make decisions that will have long-term consequences. But Fiona doesn't dwell on the situation. Instead, she buys a boldly coloured (Yellow) handbag - retail therapy, perhaps - and uses it as a metaphor to carry her decision-making tools in.

I liked the first-hand stories from a wide range of industry experts. In Two Mirrors and a Cheetah, I felt as if I was sitting down with a friend over coffee, discussing career choices and job success. In Decisions That Carry, I felt like I was sitting in a London pub (such as the Princess Louise in Holborn, one of my favourites), having a beer with a group of folks who'd made major decisions as they explained the consequences of their choices. Lived experience is so important, and that came across in heaps in this book. It's an easy-to-read book, and useful for anyone who has ever stood at two forking paths and wondered which would be the road less taken.

I liked the book and gave it five stars.


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