The groundbreaking decision to introduce an African American player into an all-Caucasian
team was one of Branch Rickey’s most controversial and well-publicized decisions. Both Rickey
and Jackie Robinson showed courageous decision making and the ability to elicit the advice and
help of others in pursuing this historical path. Day to day, many decisions need to be made in
order to make these big decisions a success. Rickey and his team had to decide how Robinson
would travel with them in a segregated country; where would he sleep? How would he eat with
them and attend functions with separate doors for whites and blacks? Robinson went on to be
the Vice President of Community Relations for Chock Full O’Nuts, proving that the leadership
and decision making learned in sports could translate to the corporate world.
Decision making is part of problem solving. Many leaders have difficulty making decisions.
What skills are needed in order to be a good decision maker and problem solver?
For this Assignment, you will assess your own problem-solving and decision-making styles and
skills with the intention of revealing areas of strength and areas on which you can improve.
Instructions
For this Assignment, read Chapter 6 of your course text and consider what type of decision
maker you are. Also look at how the UM sport professionals in the media describe effective
decision-making attributes and skills.
Consider the following:
• Did you get assigned to the type of decision maker to which you thought you would be
classified? If not, what type of decision maker do you think you are? Why might your
perception be different?
• Referring back to Scott’s Chapter 6, what types of decision making described in the
frameworks, including Cynefin framework and the Vroom-Jago-Yetton decision tree,
apply to you?
Submit by Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET, a personal evaluation in which you include the following:
• Complete the How Good Is Your Decision Making assessment instrument (Hill, n.d.)
provided in the Learning Resources.
• Complete the Leadership Self-Evaluation Template.
• Support your template with concrete examples from your personal experience,
observations, and the Learning Materials. Be sure to use proper APA citations where
appropriate.
