Blog Post

Discovering the Power of Decision Profiles

May 19

5 min read

The Science Behind Smarter Teams and Better Decisions

Most of us have taken a personality test.They tell us about our style, our preferences, our quirks. Maybe we get a neat four-letter code or a color, or a bird. And then… the PDF sits in a drawer.

At Wizer, we wanted to create something more powerful — something that could move with people. Something that didn’t just tell you about you, but helped you work better with others. Not a label, but a lever.

That’s why we created Decision Power Profiles — a dynamic, science-based tool designed to improve not just self-awareness, but the actual quality of decisions across teams, boards, and organisations.

In this post, we’ll walk through the foundations of our profiles, how they work, and why they’re built to solve a very real — and very costly — leadership problem.

Decision Power Profile draw from Three Powerful Inputs

Why Decision-Making Needs a Rethink

At the heart of every business challenge is a decision.Yet most organisations spend far more time fixing the symptoms than examining how decisions get made.

The problem isn’t always the decision itself — it’s often the group who made it. Or more specifically, the makeup of that group: too similar in thinking, too blind to risk, too driven by consensus, or too narrowly focused on outcomes.

Modern organisations are more complex than ever. Markets shift. Teams stretch across time zones. Expertise is fragmented. And yet, many leadership teams continue to rely on outdated or narrow ways of making decisions — often without realising it.

That’s where Decision Profiles come in.

What Is a Decision Power Profile?

Your Decision Power Profile maps how you think and operate when making decisions — not just your preferences, but your patterns. It’s a synthesis of:

Cognitive style
Personality traits
Decision-making tendencies
Preferred frameworks for evaluating problems

In other words, it's not about whether you're an introvert or an extrovert — it's about how you approach a decision, what you prioritise, how you collaborate, and where you shine or stumble in the process.

We’ve identified 7 Decision Archetypes that reflect distinct and complementary strengths:

The Analyzer – Rigorous, evidence-driven, cautious
The Collaborator – Skilled at getting the right people involved in decisions
The Guardian – Risk-aware, detail-focused, stabilising
The Explorer – Possibility-driven, curious, adaptive
The Deliverer – Action-oriented, expert-led, process focused
The Achiever – Goal-driven, outcome-focused, fast-paced
The Visionary – Big-picture, innovative, future-focused

Each of these profiles brings something essential to the table — but none are sufficient alone. The real power comes when you understand how they work together.

The Science Behind the Profiles

Three Inputs. One Dynamic Profile.

Wizer’s Decision Power Profiles are built on three evidence-backed frameworks:

1. Personality Psychology

Using validated models like the Big Five, we assess traits such as openness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and agreeableness — each of which shapes how you engage with uncertainty, process information, and work with others under pressure.

Rather than offering fixed personality labels, our model identifies your behavioural tendencies in the context of decision-making. Are you calm under pressure? Do you value speed over certainty? Do you look for consensus or prefer independence? Your answers help generate a rich, decision-specific view of your profile.

2. Cognitive Diversity

Based on the research of Dr Juliet Bourke, we incorporate frameworks that explore the mental models people use to solve problems. This includes your orientation toward:

Outcomes
Options
People
Process
Evidence
Risk

We all have cognitive biases — and often, default to the styles that feel most comfortable. But innovation and sound strategy require a balance of thinking styles. That balance starts with awareness.

3. Wise Crowd Theory

Popularised by James Surowiecki and later developed in organisational science, this theory explains how diverse, independent groups often outperform even the smartest individuals. Why? Because each person sees a different part of the problem — and if you can structure their inputs well, the collective judgment becomes stronger than the sum of its parts.

Wizer’s platform uses these principles to build live decision panels that are cognitively diverse, independently formed, and structured for convergence — not chaos.

From Static Insights to Live Intelligence

One of the biggest problems with most workplace assessments is that they’re static.

You get a report. You nod. Maybe you learn a few things. But six months later, the team changes. The decision changes. The context changes. And your PDF stays the same.

Wizer takes a different approach.

Once your people complete their Decision Profiles, those insights plug directly into the Wizer platform — where they become part of your company’s live decision infrastructure.

This means:

You can see the cognitive and archetype makeup of teams, panels, or departments
You can identify missing perspectives before a decision goes sideways
You can build dynamic groups based on actual decision needs, not just hierarchy or availability

What Does It Look Like in Action?

Let’s say you're building a panel to decide on a major strategic shift.

The default might be your exec team. But what if you realise the group is overloaded with Achievers and Guardians — great at execution and risk, but lacking Visionaries or Explorers?

Wizer will:

Score the current panel using our Panel Strength Indicator
Suggest who might be missing using the Recommendation Engine
Surface overlooked contributors who bring balance or complementary perspectives

You’re not left guessing. You’re not trapped in politics. You’re empowered by data that shows who needs to be in the room — and why.

Why This Matters

For Individuals:

Understand your natural decision-making strengths and blind spots
Learn how to collaborate more effectively with others
Improve your confidence in complex or high-stakes decisions

For Teams:

Avoid groupthink by creating intentional diversity
Match decision processes to the problem at hand
Spot talent based on thinking as well as experience

For Organisations:

Build decision systems that are fair, fast, and future-ready
Surface unseen contributors who might otherwise be overlooked
Turn everyday decisions into moments of learning, alignment, and strategic clarity

What’s Next: Making It Stick

We’re not saying Decision Power Profiles are magic. They don’t replace good leadership, experience, or critical thinking. But they do make those things work better — together.

The profiles evolve as your teams evolve. They reflect how your people really think. And when used consistently, they form the foundation of a smarter, stronger organisational brain.

Whether you’re solving for inclusion, agility, engagement, or innovation — decision-making is at the core. It’s time we treated it that way.