Trump Gets Advice from Irish Author

CORK, Ireland - Oct. 2, 2018 - PRLog -- Donald Trump may soon be making better decisions. That's the hope of Irish Author Patrick Hough as he sends a copy of his new book "How to be a World Class Leader" to the White House. The book was written to help CEOs and Senior Managers make better decisions, but Hough felt that the same principles could also benefit senior politicians: "We see how Trump is behaving because he's very visible, but you'll find similar patterns of behaviour in many organizations."

Hough points out that the decision-making process that Trump uses is common in business. "He appears to use gut-feeling to make decisions. He's been quoted as saying he can make them 'with very little knowledge other than the knowledge I [already] had, plus the words 'common sense,' because I have a lot of common sense and I have a lot of business ability.' Most executives wouldn't use those words – certainly not in public – but many of their decisions reflect exactly that attitude."

Hough explains that we have learned a lot more about decision-making in the last few decades. "There's work by people like Ulric Neisser, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky that shows just how susceptible we are to bias. There are mechanisms in our brain that make it very difficult for us to make logical and rational decisions. The book highlights many of those traps so that executives can avoid them."

He points out that bad decisions are common in business. For example, about 70% of mergers, acquisitions and takeovers fail to increase shareholder worth, and a high proportion actually reduce it. "One study showed that only around fifteen per cent of organisations can make and implement important decisions effectively. That's particularly shocking, considering all the time and effort that results from those decisions."

Does Hough really believe that Trump will read his book? He's not overly optimistic. "He seems to believe that he already knows everything and doesn't need to learn anything more. That's a challenge because it means he can't improve. However, it's possible that some setback might prompt him to change and the book might just be in the right place to help."

The book is called "How to be a World Class Leader". It's for CEOs, Senior Managers and Business Owners, and it's now available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07H2NZNH2.