This article was originally published on LinkedIn.
Some of our most valuable leadership lessons come from decisions that don’t work out as planned. Learning from those experiences requires an honest look at our own reasoning and a willingness to acknowledge what we could have done differently.
That was the idea behind The Decision Room, our Walton MBA - University of Arkansas Centennial Leadership Summit, held September 17 at The Compton Bentonville. We designed the event to give attendees a unique opportunity to strengthen their decision-making skills by working through real decisions alongside the leaders who made them.
The afternoon was structured like our Walton MBA leadership classroom. Like in class, attendees read a series of mini-cases in which protagonists faced tough decisions. But unlike class, the protagonists were all right there in the room with us. The audience had the chance to meet them, ask them questions, and dissect the decisions with everyone at their table. The event was highly immersive and interactive.
Our speakers (i.e., protagonists) were all accomplished Walton MBA alumni. Andrea Albright, former EVP & Chief Growth Officer, Walmart International; Kellen Frank, EVP North America Retail, Circana; and Brant Ward, President, Signature Bank of Arkansas made the whole experience possible by being willing to share decisions from earlier in their careers that they would approach differently today. Together, their cases covered a promotion decision, retail space allocation, and the timing of major technology investments.
Their openness was one of the most meaningful parts of the day for me. Revisiting a failed decision in front of a room full of peers takes vulnerability. They invited participants to examine their assumptions, understand the pressures they faced, and consider where a different approach might have led. I’m grateful for their humility and generosity.
Matt Waller and I taught the audience WRAP, the decision framework we teach in our Walton MBA leadership course. The framework comes from Chip and Dan Heath, and the audience all left with their outstanding book Decisive.
The four steps of the WRAP framework are:
- Widen your options.
- Reality-test your assumptions.
- Attain distance before deciding.
- Prepare to be wrong.
Participants practiced using the framework throughout the afternoon. They considered what information was missing, whose perspective might help, and what evidence could change their minds. In one case, they made their own recommendations before learning what the leader had actually decided and how it turned out.
Brandi Joplin, former SVP & Chief Financial Officer, Sam's Club, also brought her experience making decisions in the C-suite and boardroom to the conversation. She joined Brent D. Williams, Dean of the University of Arkansas - Sam M. Walton College of Business and me for a live discussion about a strategic decision we've been grappling with in the Walton MBA Programs. We asked attendees to use the WRAP framework to help us work through this challenge. Their input is helping us think through the future of our MBA programs.
For me, the summit captured something I value deeply about our MBA classroom: the opportunity to learn with and from people who bring different experiences and an open mind. One of our primary goals for the event was for our attendees to leave better decision-makers than when they arrived. I'm confident in saying that this goal was achieved.
Thank you to Kellen, Andrea, Brant, and Brandi for sharing your experiences so openly; to Brent, Blake Woolsey, and Matt for helping lead the afternoon; and to our MBA students and the Walton MBA programs team (Olga Murcia, Julie Storing, and Chelsea Ashworth, MBA) for bringing this event to life. And to all our attendees, whether you're a current MBA student, alumni, or a friend of the program, you made The Decision Room an outstanding experience. Thank you.
