Negotiation and decision-making expert Professor Max Bazerman's talk regarding his recent book, Better, Not Perfect: A Realist's Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness.

Every day, you make hundreds of decisions. They’re largely personal, but these choices have an ethical twinge as well; they value certain principles and ends over others. Bazerman argues that we can better balance both dimensions—and we needn’t seek perfection to make a real difference for ourselves and the world. 

Speaker: Max Bazerman | Harvard Business School Professor

When: January 21st, 4-5 pm EST

Where: Zoom link will be emailed to you closer to the date of the talk.

For questions, email: alki.iliopoulou@gmail.com

Add this to your Google calendar from your computer: tinyurl.com/bst-googlecalendar to add the event + login.

** If you have not received the invitation before the event, please check your spam folder. **

Sponsors: 

Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association, NE

Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association

Harvard Club of Merrimack Valley

Praise for Better, Not Perfect:

“Take some of the best ideas in philosophy, mix in relevant research in psychology, add a lifetime of practical wisdom, and you have a recipe for exactly what this book's subtitle says it is: a realistic guide to doing the most good one can. Read it, and you will find yourself leading a better life—better for you and better for the world!”

—Peter Singer, Princeton University, author of Animal Liberation and Practical Ethics

“William James, the great American philosopher who gave us pragmatism, wrote that “thinking is for doing”. Bazerman’s Better Not Perfect, is a perfect exposition of that original ideal brought to bear on 21st century issues. Bazerman has a gift: to grasp the core of the hardest ethical issues we confront, and to bring the best science and argument to allow us to grapple with them.  He does this with such clarity and with such compassion for human nature that you will be more than persuaded – you’ll get up and do something!  Max Bazerman is an inspirator who will be your guide in an uncertain world, full of promise, if only we make better, not perfect, choices.” 

--Mahzarin R. Banaji, Harvard University, co-author of Blindspot

“The world is fraught with crises related to global health, the environment, animal welfare, and more. Nothing is more important than figuring out what we can do to improve things. In Better, Not Perfect, HBS Prof. Max Bazerman offers a roadmap that will help readers understand the world around them and how they can most strategically and effectively make things better. I spent my first 10 years out of college trying to be perfect, not better. Oh how I wish I’d had this book to guide my vocational decisions.” 

—Bruce Friedrich, Co-Founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute

“Building on the ideas of effective altruism, Bazerman delivers important new insights on how to use your time, money, intellect, and influence to make the world better. Better, Not Perfect can help you do an enormous amount of good.”

—Will MacAskill, Co-Founder, Center for Effective Altruism and author, Doing Good Better

“We all want to believe that we will help make the world a better place. But how do you get to that North Star of doing the most good over your lifetime?   Take one step at a time. In his delightful and engaging book, Bazerman brings philosophy into our every day lives and gets us thinking about how to improve our real-life decisions to create more value for our friends, our community and ultimately our society. Maybe you can reduce meat consumption rather than switch to vegetarianism;  Maybe you can invent a plant-based meat substitute rather than donating 50 percent of your income to charity.  Bazerman calls upon us to be more altruistic -- better, but not perfect!  More rational thinking and less intuition will help us make better ethical decisions that lead us toward that North Star.” 

--Sheryl WuDunn, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope

“Although we’re quick to recognize the moral mistakes other people make, it’s not until it’s too late that we catch most of our own. As a leading expert on this problem, Max Bazerman shows how we can avoid ethical blunders—and do more good along the way.”

--Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of GIVE AND TAKE and ORIGINALS, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

“Max Bazerman is part behavioral scientist, part mensch—and the sage I consult whenever I'm stuck on a life decision. This brilliant, wise guide shows us why perfect really is the enemy of the good—and how we can all do better."

-Angela Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania and bestselling author, Grit

 Max Bazerman will talk about how we can all be better, even if we aren’t perfect, including how we allocate scarce resources under Covid.

Bio:

Max H. Bazerman is Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.  His recent books include Better, Not Perfect (2020), The Power of Experiments (2020, with Michael Luca), The Power of Noticing (2014), Judgment in Managerial Decision Making (2013, with Don Moore), and Blind Spots (2011, with Ann Tenbrunsel).  He has published over 250 papers, which can be seen here.

Max received an honorary doctorate from the University of London, the Life Achievement Award from the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management, the Academy of Management Career Award for Scholarly Contributions to Management, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management, and numerous teaching awards at Harvard and Northwestern.  

His professional activities include projects with Abbott, Aetna, AIG, Alcar, Alcoa, Allstate, Ameritech, Amgen, Apax Partners, Asian Development Bank, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Aventis, BASF, Bayer, Becton Dickenson, Biogen, Boston Scientific, BP, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Business Week, Celtic Insurance, Chevron, Chicago Tribune, City of Chicago, and additional companies that start with letters between D and Z.  Max's consulting, teaching, and lecturing includes work in 30 countries.