Introduction: Current decision-making discourse, including rational Homo economicus and predictable irrationality, provide a plausible but unsatisfying explanation of human judgment. They perform well in the laboratory but all too often disappoint in uncertain, high-stakes situations of leadership. These explanations narrow the richness of human experience, discounting relevant contextual, ethical, and emotional factors. Therefore, we lack an holistic picture of circumstances under which wisdom leads to successful decision-making. To fill this lacuna, this study forages into Wise Decision-Making (WDM).


Aim
This project seeks to develop a data-driven, novel theory of Wise Decision-Making. We will elucidate the important components—processes, antecedents, and DMVs—involved in good judgments made by seasoned leaders who confront important responsibility and ambiguity.


Techniques


We used a grounded theory approach and a three-stage interviewing protocol to reduce demand and recall biases. We have thus far conducted 50 depth interviews with people of diverse backgrounds, such as bureaucrats, generals, surgeons, and judges. We analyzed the interview transcripts intensely, using Gioia procedure from first-order codes to final themes and a dimension of a finished theory.


Conclusion


Preliminary analysis reveals WDM to be a multi-dimensional process. Robust two-dimensional clusters have emerged from the data:


Meta-cognitive Regulation: This includes reflective deliberating ("thinking before acting") and perspective-taking ("checking viewpoints").


Moral Framing: This subsumes ethics of foresight (e.g., "thinking downstream") and value alignment (e.g., "sorting out conflicting duties"). These results show wise decision-making to be ethics and self-control rather than mere rational choice. The new framework counters essentialist conceptions and characterizes Wise Decision-Making as an interaction of meta-cognition, ethics, and emotional regulation. This study reveals the need for a framework handling the richness of practical leadership. Data are still being gathered to reach theoretical saturation and develop a framework of wide generality and subject matter expertise.