Publications
Dr. Meena Thuraisingham shares her experience and insights in three practical books and in numerous conference papers
The Secret Life of Decisions
How Unconscious Bias Subverts Your Judgement
The Secret Life of Decisions exposes the unchallenged myths and distortions that impact our reasoning ability, raising our awareness of the many traps we can fall into.
The authors have drawn from decades of work with leaders showing that even the most talented leaders and teams can end up making sub-optimal decisions. This is rarely because they had poor critical thinking faculties but rather because they did not pay enough attention to the often invisible traps hardwired into our thinking processes, letting through only information that conforms with our current beliefs, mental models and expectations.
An essential read for developing and seasoned executives who have to work through high stakes decisions. It treats choosing wisely and the thinking involved as a skill that can be improved with the guided practice and supporting tools provided here. The journey however starts with awareness that comes from outing the ‘secret’ forces that can sabotage the quality of our decisions.
Reviews - The Secret Life of Decisions
“Why do leaders often get decisions wrong? What can you do to make better decisions? Integrating case examples and business experience with research evidence this book skilfully addresses these two central questions and provides clear frameworks to enable effective decision making”.
— Professor Rob Goffee, Emeritus Professor, Organisational Behaviour, London Business School
“Written with great clarity Meena exposes and analyses the many traps and prejudices that influence the decision making process and hence the outcome. Absolutely essential reading for any student of management and leadership and a great guide for any professional with decision making responsibilities”.
— Marcel Kreis, Chairman, Credit Suisse Private Banking, Asia Pacific
“No executive gets all decisions right. The secret of business success is increasing the number of good decisions while accepting that some of your decisions will be wrong. The framework in this book will without doubt help you get more decisions right than before”
— Giam Swiegers, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte, Australia
“It is sobering to realise how much of our thinking is, as Meena puts it, “hardwired”. In this excellent book Meena explores our decision-making biases and offers a useful framework to help us overcome them and make better decisions”.
— Jane Hemstritch, Non Executive Board Director Lend Lease, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Santos
“Ever sat back and asked yourself – ‘why did I make the same wrong decision, not once but twice?’ I wish I had read Meena Thuraisingham’s insightful book earlier in my career – perhaps it would have saved me from myself on a number of occasions”.
— Andy Street, Managing Director of John Lewis, UK; Chairman of the Greater Birmingham Local Enterprise Partnership, UK
“Drawing from decades of work with leaders, Meena shows that even the most talented leaders can end up making sub-optimal decisions…..essential reading to learn how to optimise your decision making”.
— Stephen Fitzgerald, Non Executive Board Director, Future Fund, former Chairman Goldman Sachs Australia and New Zealand
Derailed!
What Smart Executives Do To Stay On Track
At the heart of many a successful career there often lurks the spectre of failure. Derailed! uncovers the hidden dangers, pinpoints the warning signs, and provides success strategies for negotiating through the setbacks that are an inevitable feature of executive life today.
Career setbacks are an inevitable feature of executive life today. But the financial and personal costs to both the organisation and the executive are enormous.
So how do smart executives stay on track?
It is this question that is at the heart of “Derailed” – a valuable and practical guide for executives wanting to build a crash-resistant career. The author uses the insights and lessons gained from her 30 year career in succession planning and talent management to uncover the hidden dangers, pinpoint the warning signs and provide success strategies for navigating through the complexities of executive life.
The book outlines the 8 personal attributes that trigger or accelerate executive derailment. It also examines the adverse impact that organisational culture and structures can have on even the most promising executive career.
WARNING: ONE IN FOUR SENIOR EXECUTIVES DERAILS IN THE FIRST 18 MONTHS OF BEING APPOINTED AND THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS HAS ONLY EXACERBATED THE PROBLEM.
Reviews - Derailed!
“Derailed! clarifies the real causes behind the untimely departure of good executives and offers practical ways for individuals and organisations to avoid such costly derailments”.
— Alison Watkins, Non-executive Director ANZ Banking Group, Non-executive Director Woolworths
“Derailed! benefits from the insights gathered by Meena Thuraisingham during many years providing advice to senior executives in global organisations. It is a valuable aide-memoire, not only for those commencing their executive careers but also for seasoned executives – a compulsory read for all executives keen to avoid fatal career events”.
— Stuart Davis, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India Limited
“Derailed! holds powerful messages for executives who may have experienced ‘bumps in the road’ … and also for those of us who find ourselves at the crossroads, Derailed! helps us to understand what we could do (or what we should have done better)”.
— Peter Hanlon, Group Executive, People and Transformation, Westpac Banking Corporation
Careers Unplugged
Essential Choices For A Great Career
Careers Unplugged differs in its approach from previous writing on careers. It frames careers as a set of clear and simple choices - too often overlooked in one’s search for solutions or paths to a more satisfying career.
Your career is a series of personal choices that YOU make, choices about what you do and how you do it. It is about the challenges you choose to pursue and those you do not, about the trade-offs you are prepared to make and those you are not, about investing time in certain things and not in others, about speaking up or not, and about the relationships you choose to invest in or not.
Rather than letting organisational expediency drive your choices, take control of your career, recognise those situations that retard your career potential, and seek to craft experiences that grow your potential… and create a career that works for you.
“All executives can benefit from assistance to simplify the complex matter of achieving a successful and personally satisfying career. Careers Unplugged gets back to the fundamentals of how to shape a successful career in a changing global context, while also giving due recognition to your own personal drivers and preferences”.
— John Mumm, Chairman, Spencer Stuart, Australia
“This practical, well organised book is at once empowering and challenging. Its down to earth style reflects Thuraisingham’s years of experience in the career development field. It will be a valuable resource for both those faced with career decisions, large and small, and those who counsel them”.
— Jane S Hemstritch Board Director, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, retired Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Accenture
“Insightful and an easy read. A must have handbook for aspiring executives”.
— Rosaleen Blair, Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Mann Solutions and Winner of Veuve Clicquot 2007 Business Woman of the Year, UK
Reviews - Careers Unplugged
“In the context of the ‘War For Talent’ Careers Unplugged provides great insights and valuable practical suggestions for up and coming leaders”.
— Sheila Penrose, Chairman and Founder, Corporate Leadership Center and Global Chairman, Jones Lang LaSalle
“A treatment of the subject that is refreshing, intelligent and rich with practical insights – a book to return to from time to time when assessing where you are with your career”.
— Dr Bob Edgar, Chief Operating Officer, ANZ Banking Group
“A recommended read for anyone interested in taking charge of their own career choices, as well as to HR and Talent Management specialists who are interested in crafting state-of-the-art career management systems and processes for their organisations”.
— Douglas A. Ready, Ph.D. President, International Consortium of Executive Development and Research (ICEDR) & Visiting Professor, Organizational Behaviour, London Business School
White Papers:
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