Dennis Kollman

A toolkit for life

I chose Strategic Decision Making for Management because making decisions that have a huge impact is something I do very often in my role as a Sales Director: What prices to offer, whether to accept an offer or not, and especially for cases where I move into the liminal zone close to marginal costs. I was searching for a good toolkit for when I need to make a fast decision. I wanted to have something to support that gut feeling.

We learned not only about how to make important decisions, but also a lot about our own biases that come into play every moment of our lives, when we make everyday decisions, as well as the big ones. The decisions I make now are more conscious, and based on facts. I use the work we did on biases a lot. Even the complicated techniques I’ve used once or twice already. Let’s just say the programme has already paid for itself!

Global connectivity

Doing the programme has given me a new view into other societies. I met people from all over the world: People from Canada, India, Europe, people in the oil industry in Brazil, people who I would never normally come into contact with. I learned as much from people from other countries and businesses than I did from the decision-making.

I’ve taken other classes at other schools and usually you just meet other ‘economics’ people, but at LSE I met a wide range of people from different industries. I went back to London recently and a group of us from the programme met up. These connections would never have been established without this programme.

A programme in a class of its own

All the lecturers were great. They presented the frameworks, then we implemented them on our own and used them within group work. That allowed us to get used to the new statistical methods. There was academic stuff, but there was always a link to practical application. If it was complicated, there was an expert there to help us if we needed it. We had tools available, even if we weren’t familiar with them immediately.

I also enjoyed staying in London. All the surroundings were really good: Lincoln’s Inn Fields are close, where you can have a break with coffee and pizza. The hotel recommended by LSE was great, and also really close by. I just had a great time – with all of it. I would do the week exactly the same if I did it again.