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in•for•ma•tion n. 1. Knowledge derived from study, experience, or instruction. 2. Knowledge of specific events or situations that has been gathered or received by communication; intelligence or news.

We're neither the first, nor surely the last, to rant and write about decision making. It's a fascinating topic, whether you come at it from the mathematical-game theory-propeller head angle, or down a vector that originates in an abiding interest in making better decisions . . . either as an individual or an organization.

Assuming you catch the bug, it's probably inevitable that you'll go looking for books to read. Ours is coming, but in the mean time, here are some books you might find interesting, if not helpful.

These Are Good General Reads About Decision Making

Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to... This is probably as good a place to start as any. The authors are well known academics with flawless credentials. It's easy to read and gives you a good grounding in the basic concepts and tools of decision making. Decision trees and some clever tools like "swaps" included for those who want some mental exercise.

Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the... The other good general purpose book on decision making. Similar content, but different models and emphasis. Read this one plus Smart Choices, and you will have covered off the non-academic canon from the east coast decision making gurus. Good information on decision traps.

Decision Traps: Ten Barriers to... Authors Russo and Schoemaker Winning Decisions) come at decision making from the standpoint of how to not screw up. Decision traps are automatic "stimulus/response" behaviors . . . non-decisions if you like . . . that lead you off in a direction that is antithetical to good decision making. The traps? There are others, but here's their list: Plunging in, Frame blindness, Lack of frame control, Overconfidence in your judgment, Shortsighted shortcuts, Shooting from the hip, Group failure, Fooling yourself about feedback, Not keeping track, Failing to audit your decision process.

How Good People Make Tough Choices:...Rushworth Kidder is a former Senior Editor at The Christian Science Monitor and brings a penetrating sensibility and wonderful voice to a subject most of us nod at but tend to shy away from. Long before it became fashionable, Kidder identified ethics (through his interviews of some of the giants of the last century) as one of the most important dynamics of our era. A very fine book and worth your attention.

These Books Deal With Specific and Sometimes Well Known Decisions

One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev,...If you have any interest in decision making, this is a book you should read. If you were alive and aware in the early 60's, this is a book you really should read. The Cuban Missile Crisis was arguably the hottest single point of the Cold War, thirteen days that brought the US and USSR within a bad decision of total, thermonuclear war. This book give you a terrific view into what went on with both sides, based on unprecedented access to recently declassified US and Soviet era records.

Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban... If you're going to read about the Cuban Missile Crisis, you should add this book to the list. It's a short memoir by Bobby Kennedy, arguably President Kennedy's closest and most important advisor. He was there for every bit of it. In some ways, the best part are his reflections at the end about the dynamics that supported what everyone came to regard as a superb decision process that led to an excellent outcome.

Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue SeaThis is a ripping good tale, a true pairing of two stories. The first, of the sinking in a terrible hurricane of the steamship Central America along with 50 tons of gold rush era gold. The second, of a young engineer named Tommy Thompson who takes nothing for granted, questions everything about everything, and ultimate figures out what no one for any amount of money including the US government with it's unlimited treasury could do before him: do delicate, real work at extreme depths. Tommy not only finds the wreck, but salvages the gold. It reads like fiction. It's a pot boiler from the first page to the last. If you like a good tale, if you like innovation and a never say never attitude, read this book.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible...And you think you have it tough. Bunch of guys head on down to the Antarctic to be the first to cross the frozen continent by dog sled. Ooops. Boat gets frozen in and ultimately crushed by the ice. In a terrific tale of heroism and grit, everyone of them makes it off the ice and ultimately to safety. Easy read. Great story. The essence of the heroic journey. It will take you most of a Saturday to read this.