In a world moving faster by the minute, decision-making has become a leadership skill you can’t afford to leave to instinct.
Leadership teams make decisions worth millions, yet most organizations have no real way to understand how those teams make decisions under pressure. Cognitive flexibility, risk appetite, ambiguity tolerance, and team chemistry matter more when the ground keeps moving.
In this episode… Lorne Epstein explains why leadership teams need to understand their decision-making patterns, how AI is changing the velocity of work, and why the best teams aren’t necessarily collections of “A players.” They’re teams with the right chemistry, guardrails, and ability to adapt.
Key Takeaways :
Leadership decisions can be worth millions. Lorne argues that even a small investment in understanding how a leadership team makes decisions can have meaningful value.
Groupthink can quietly derail decisions. Teams can assess their collective decision-making patterns and identify when they need someone to challenge the prevailing idea.
The pace of decisions is changing. Leaders have less time to wait for perfect information, making cognitive flexibility and comfort with ambiguity increasingly important.
You will never have all the data. Effective decision-makers need to get comfortable making calls with imperfect and incomplete information.
Guardrails can create speed. Clear boundaries let teams, especially sales teams, move quickly and creatively without constantly wondering whether they're crossing a line.
The best team isn't necessarily the team with the most “A players.” Lorne argues that chemistry matters. Different decision-making styles can create a more effective team than simply stacking individual high performers.
This episode was recorded live at SHRM Annual 2026
The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved.
isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.
Learn more about isolved: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/
Guest : Lorne Epstein
Neuroscientist, Facilitator & Keynote Speaker at Electric Cow, Lorne studies decision-making and developed an assessment focused on how leadership teams make decisions, including cognitive flexibility, risk appetite, and ambiguity tolerance.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorneepstein/
The Heroes of HR Podcast is hosted by
Amy Miller, Product Evangelist at isolved
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycmiller/
Ryan Leary, Co-founder at WRKdefined
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/
William Tincup, Co-founder at WRKdefined
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/
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