
Can Geopolitical Decision-Making Benefit from a Little Bias?
Blog, Decision Making, Leadership
“I suggest that Washington, in no small part by virtue of his great confidence, was able to turn the tables and seize victory from the jaws of defeat, an achievement epitomized by his daring raid across the Delaware,” Dominic Johnson writes…

ESG and the Risk of Moral Licensing
Blog, Compliance & Ethics Programs, Decision Making
One study on consumer behavior suggested that shoppers who brought their own bags felt licensed to buy more junk food.
We are entering an era of unprecedented Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) imperatives, which will hopefully…

An MIT Researcher Watched a Hospital Experiment with Shared Leadership
Blog, Corporate Culture, Decision Making, Fairness, Leadership, Trust
Workers with little power are often at the mercy of more senior employees who benefit from newly introduced tech and pay little mind to how it affects others.
The social psychologist Debra Mashek, a self-styled “collaboration maven,”…

Good Risk Culture Starts with an Open Conversation
Blog, Corporate Culture, Decision Making, Speak-Up and Call-Out Culture
"The pandemic certainly has awakened many people to the importance of explicitly reckoning with risk," says Michele Wucker, author of the new book You Are What You Risk.
One of the riskiest decisions in my life, I still tend to think, was…

The Science of Collaborating Effectively: A Conversation with Debra Mashek
Blog, Corporate Culture, Decision Making, Podcast, Trust
Listen to "#28 - The Science of Collaborating Effectively: A Conversation with Dr Debra Mashek" on Spreaker.
In this episode of the Breaking the Fever podcast, we speak with Debra Mashek about how true collaboration emerges within and between…

What Frogs in Hot Water Can Teach Us About Thinking Again
Blog, Decision Making, Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIlgTBmiov0
In this Ted talk, Ethical Systems collaborator Adam Grant discusses biases that prevent us from changing course, like doubling down on a commitment to show others, or perhaps ourselves, that…

The Tricky Role of Loyalty at Work
Blog, Cheating & Honesty, Corporate Culture, Decision Making, Leadership
The downsides of fostering loyalty don't mean that promoting loyalty is too dangerous. But leaders should proceed with caution.
It’s fair to say that, overall, organizations can benefit from loyal employees. Loyal employees stay with their…

What Social Media Is Doing to Us
Contextual Influences, Decision Making, Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFBkkL9hkHE&t=228s
In this video, produced by the Strand Book Store in New York City, Jon Haidt speaks with Chris Bail, author of Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing,…

Why Promotion Is a Moral Hazard
Blog, Compliance & Ethics Programs, Corporate Culture, Decision Making, Fairness, Leadership, Personality & Personnel
"When leaders very publicly fail due to ethical lapses, some people are inclined to say, 'See, that’s just how business is,' instead of learning a more inspiring lesson."
Jessica Kennedy gets frustrated when people—often academics—try…

Why Do We Always Think We’re Right? A Conversation with Jon Haidt
Blog, Contextual Influences, Decision Making, Leadership, Podcast, Trust
In this episode of The Good Fight podcast, host Yascha Mounk speaks with Ethical Systems Founding Director Jonathan Haidt about the psychological differences between the political left and right, the human tendency to discriminate in…