How to exercise better judgement: a six-step framework based on a decade of research
Sir Andrew’s research has focused on human judgement since 2014, yielding game-changing insights. He has provided a clear definition of judgement for leaders and organisations based on a 6-element framework for using and improving judgement.
This work finds its roots in his earlier interest in performance measurement. There he focused on what was particularly difficult to measure, including the links between pay and performance. He saw judgement as an important measurement challenge first and his work broadened out from there. To meet that challenge, as well as delving into many literatures (“16 at the last count”), he has interviewed more than 800 people, from CEOs and Nobel prize-winners to people doing routine jobs, in more than 20 countries.
His findings have resulted in a definition and a framework for improving the chances of achieving aims by treating judgement as a process. The results have come out in a wide variety of publications and training programmes aimed at practitioners and, most recently a book, “Judgement at work: Making better choices,” published by Profile Books in 2025.
Sir Andrew defines judgement as “the combination of personal qualities with relevant knowledge and experience to make decisions or to form opinions.” He has broken the process of exercising good judgement down into six elements. These elements provide the basis of questions you need to ask yourself when making a judgement:
1. Knowledge and Experience: How much relevant knowledge and experience do I have? Note the “relevant”. We may know a lot or have lots of experience, but if it isn’t relevant, it won’t necessarily help us.
2. Awareness: Am I aware of what’s going on in making a judgement, particularly in terms of reading the situation in which a judgement has to be made? Those who don’t pick up the signals risk making poor judgements as a result.
3. Trust: Can I trust the people who are involved and the information I am getting? We have learned how unreliable social media can be. We know we need to be careful about who we can trust and who we can’t.
4. Feelings and beliefs: Do I have biases or emotions that get in the way of making a good judgement? As human beings, bias and emotion are part of what it means to be a human being. Having these is inevitable, but we also need to be aware of their influence and take that into account when we make a judgement.
5. Choice: Am I making the choice in a way that is likely to give me the best outcome? It may be that all the options have not been considered or that the group making the choice is dominated by a single individual.
6. Delivery (for decisions, not opinions): How likely is it that what I have decided on can be delivered? Having a brilliant idea is not enough. If it can’t be done, it isn’t a brilliant judgement.
Sir Andrew’s framework distinguishes judgement from decision-making. For example, judgement includes forming opinions, while decision-making does not. And the focus for judgement is on the person or people making the choice, not the choice in abstract. He suggests that using this framework helps stack the cards in favour of those making the judgement - particularly important when the stakes are high.
