How to Short-Circuit Short-Term Thinking

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Human behavior is fueling major social dilemmas—from climate change to the Covid pandemic to the spread of misinformation. But that means it’s also the solution, if only we can harness psychology for the common good. The world is facing…

The Status Game Doesn’t Have to Be Zero-Sum

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“Prestige,” Will Storr writes in The Status Game, “is our most marvelous craving.” Do you ever get a niggling feeling that other people are doing better than you? Don’t worry, we all do. And rest assured, social comparison isn’t…

Are You a More Holistic or Analytic Thinker? Take This Quiz to Find Out

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There now tends to be more cultural diversity within societies than between them—including in thinking styles. Left-brain or right-brain? Creative or critical? Analytic or holistic? We love to divide the world into simple dichotomies.…

Elizabeth Holmes Is a Scapegoat—Even If She’s Guilty

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Reprinted with permission from Luke Burgis' Substack, Anti-Mimetic. Our desire for quick justice can make us pounce on the most visible actors. The criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the blood-testing startup Theranos,…

The Two Sides of Envy at Work

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Studies of workplace envy have surged in recent years as researchers look for ways to harness its power to inspire workers to aim higher, and to minimize its negative effects on office social dynamics. Back when she was in college, Alaina…

Can Geopolitical Decision-Making Benefit from a Little Bias?

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“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

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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

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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

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"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

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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…