The Rising Value of Skilled Decision Makers in Today’s Workforce

Ever wonder why some people seem to climb the career ladder faster? It might be because they’re great at making decisions. Recent research and industry trends highlight how these skills can lead to higher salaries and greater career opportunities. Let’s explore why decision-skilled workers are so valued and how this underscores the need for Decision Education in our schools.
The Power of Skilled Decision-Making
In today’s fast-paced world, the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively is like having a superpower. According to senior executives from top U.S. companies such as Amazon, Adobe, and Salesforce, employers want people who can:
- Analyze and interpret lots of information
- Weigh the pros and cons and evaluate tradeoffs
- Make choices even when things are uncertain
- Adapt to changing circumstances
Decision Education equips students with all of these skills. For example, students learn a process for structuring decisions that includes critically evaluating information and trade-offs with different alternatives and methods to manage uncertainty and update beliefs.
These skills are especially valuable as businesses navigate rapid technological changes, global economic shifts, and evolving customer preferences.
Better Decision-Making Can Lead to Bigger Paychecks and More Opportunities
Here’s some good news: being skilled at making decisions might help employees earn more money and open up more career opportunities. According to the NACE 2024 Job Outlook, employers prioritize people who can solve problems and work well in teams. Similarly, the Future of Jobs Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum found that “analytical thinking and innovation” and “complex problem-solving” were among the top skills expected to be in high demand through 2025.
Decision Education helps students develop all of these skills. For example, students learn how to adopt a truth-seeking mindset when approaching problems and to facilitate teamwork through active open-mindedness and group decision-making tools.
The Need for Decision Education
Given how important decision skills are in the job market, it’s surprising that we don’t teach it more in schools. Here’s why we should:
- It prepares students for work: Decision Education helps students succeed in their future jobs.
- It’s useful everywhere: decision-making skills are valuable no matter what job you have.
- It helps with critical thinking: Decision Education encourages students to think deeply and consider different viewpoints.
- It improves personal life outcomes: better decision-making can lead to better choices with money, relationships, and life in general.
- It helps solve big problems: as the world faces more complex challenges, we need people who know how to effectively make decisions.
Implementing Decision Education
To help meet the growing demand for skilled decision makers, schools can include Decision Education lessons in existing classes or offer dedicated Decision Education classes. Teachers can implement it in many ways, including incorporating decision-making exercises into project-based learning and providing opportunities for students to apply decision skills in real-world scenarios. For more information and resources on implementing Decision Education in the classroom, read more here.
Looking Ahead
Companies want employees who are effective decision makers, and they’re willing to pay more for these skills. By teaching Decision Education in our schools, we can help students succeed in their careers and personal lives, while also meeting the needs of a rapidly changing job market.