In a new podcast, The Art of Deciding, award-winning journalist Bruce Whitfield meets a wide range of decision makers to talk about how they made them.
Decisions shape our lives but how much do we know about the process of making them? And how do we make the right choices?
Bruce talks to guests from a criminal investigator to successful entrepreneurs, from one of the most commercially successful authors of all time and a champion poker player.
They discuss the most crucial decisions they’ve made, how they made them, their decision-making philosophy, how they cope with making the wrong choice and their best choices and their worst mistakes.
The series brings together advice from people whose decisions have had far-reaching consequences, so that listeners can perfect their own ‘art of deciding’.
Episode one features best-selling author Lee Child, creator of former military police officer Jack Reacher. To coincide with the launch of his latest Reacher novel In Too Deep – the 29th in the acclaimed series – Child speaks to Bruce about his decision to write his way out of financial ruin – and then the ultimate choice – how and when will Reacher die?
Other guests lined up include:
- Founder and chairman of The Cobra Beer Partnership, Lord Karan Bilimoria. Today, a cross-party peer in the House of Lords and a key figure in trade between the UK and India, the country of his birth. Bilimoria shares with Bruce his insights into knowing what to ignore and how to recognise when to grab an opportunity and when to let it pass you by.
- Entrepreneur, innovator and feminist champion, Sharmadean Reid, who talks about what inspired her decisions that led to a reimagining of the way the beauty industry works – especially for the women in it – and about why it is that women are often forced to make decisions that don’t serve their own interests.
- Former chair of the Court of the Bank of England, Sir Brad Fried on how he gets the best out of his teams and how the power of giving agency to teams of smart, capable people means leaders can guide and mentor rather than instruct.
- Former world poker champion, Liv Boree. Hear how Boree studied astrophysics but entered a reality TV show and found herself thrust into the world of competitive card playing which earned her millions over a decade before she gave it up. An expert on calculating probability, how do you ensure that you make the best choice, fast?
- Norwegian police superintendent Asbjørn Rachlew who has worked as a homicide detective for eight years, including as advisor to the team interviewing Anders Breivik, the man who carried out two domestic terror attacks in Oslo and Utøya in 2011. His work has seen the development of global standards for investigative interviewing which are the antithesis of the stereotypical fist-slamming interrogation of the Hollywood cop drama. He bases his decisions on one key principle: “What if the opposite is true?
Bruce Whitfield said: “We live in a world where nothing is certain or guaranteed, and where people constantly prevaricate and procrastinate to the point of distraction.
“I’m fascinated by people and what motivates us. The decisions we all make in a myriad of ways each day have immediate and long-term consequences but how do we make them? What factors determine our decisions?
“Through these revealing and insightful conversations, I’m excited to see if we can find out with the most brilliant guests in The Art of Deciding and I can’t wait to share them with you.”
The Art of Deciding launches today, 24 October on most podcast platforms.
