Audiobooks by Max H. Bazerman

Complicit: How We Enable the Unethical and How to Stop

This audiobook narrated by Nancy Crane reveals what all of us can do to fight the pervasive human tendency to enable wrongdoing in the workplace, politics, and beyond It is easy to condemn obvious wrongdoers such as Elizabeth Holmes, Adam Neumann, Harvey Weinstein, and the Sackler family. But we rarely think about the many people who supported their unethical or criminal behavior. In each case there was a supporting cast of complicitors: business partners, employees, investors, news organizations, and others. And, whether we’re aware of it or not, almost all of us have been complicit in the unethical behavior of others. In Complicit, Harvard Business School professor Max Bazerman confronts our complicity head-on and offers strategies for recognizing and avoiding the psychological and other traps that lead us to ignore, condone, or actively support wrongdoing in our businesses, organizations, communities, politics, and more. Complicit tells compelling stories of those who enabled the Theranos and WeWork scandals, the opioid crisis, the sexual abuse that led to the #MeToo movement, and the January 6th U.S. Capitol attack. The book describes seven different behavioral profiles that can lead to complicity in wrongdoing, ranging from true partners to those who unknowingly benefit from systemic privilege, including white privilege, and it tells the story of Bazerman’s own brushes with complicity. Complicit also offers concrete and detailed solutions, describing how individuals, leaders, and organizations can more effectively prevent complicity. By challenging the notion that a few bad apples are responsible for society’s ills, Complicit implicates us all—and offers a path to creating a more ethical world.

Max H. Bazerman (Author), Nancy Crane (Narrator)

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Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices

A fresh, research-driven playbook for how successful leaders can maximize the potential of others When we think of leaders, we often imagine lone, inspirational figures lauded for their behaviors, attributes, and personal decisions, and leadership books often reinforce that view. However, this approach ignores a leader's mission to empower others. Applying decades of behavioral science research, Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman offer a passionate corrective to this view, casting today's organizations as decision factories in which effective leaders are decision architects, enabling those around them to make wise, ethical choices consistent with their own interests and the organization's highest values. As a result, a leader's impact grows because it ripples out instead of relying on one individual to play the part of heroic figure. Filled with real-life stories and examples of the structures, incentives, and systems that successful leaders have used, this playbook equips each of us to facilitate wise decisions.

Don A. Moore, Max H. Bazerman (Author), Roman Howell (Narrator)

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Better, Not Perfect: A Realist's Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness

Negotiation and decision-making expert Max Bazerman explores how we can make more ethical choices by aspiring to be better, not perfect. 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. Better, Not Perfect provides a deeply researched, prescriptive roadmap for how to maximize our pleasure and minimize pain. Bazerman shares a framework to be smarter and more efficient, honest and aware—to attain your “maximum sustainable goodness.” In Part Two, he identifies four training grounds to practice these newfound skills for outsized impact: how you think about equality and your tribe(s); waste—from garbage to corporate excess; the way you spend time; and your approach to giving—whether your attention or your money. Ready to nudge yourself toward better, Part Three trains your eye on how to extend what you’ve learned and positively influence others. Melding philosophy and psychology as never before, this down-to-earth guide will help clarify your goals, assist you in doing more good with your limited time on the planet, and see greater satisfaction in the process. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Max H. Bazerman (Author), Rich Miller (Narrator)

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The Power of Experiments: Decision-Making in a Data Driven World

How organizations―including Google, StubHub, Airbnb, and Facebook―learn from experiments in a data-driven world. Have you logged into Facebook recently? Searched for something on Google? Chosen a movie on Netflix? If so, you've probably been an unwitting participant in a variety of experiments―also known as randomized controlled trials―designed to test the impact of different online experiences. Once an esoteric tool for academic research, the randomized controlled trial has gone mainstream. No tech company worth its salt (or its share price) would dare make major changes to its platform without first running experiments to understand how they would influence user behavior. In this book, Michael Luca and Max Bazerman explain the importance of experiments for decision making in a data-driven world. Luca and Bazerman describe the central role experiments play in the tech sector, drawing lessons and best practices from the experiences of such companies as StubHub, Alibaba, and Uber. Successful experiments can save companies money―eBay, for example, discovered how to cut $50 million from its yearly advertising budget―or bring to light something previously ignored, as when Airbnb was forced to confront rampant discrimination by its hosts. Moving beyond tech, Luca and Bazerman consider experimenting for the social good―different ways that govenments are using experiments to influence or “nudge” behavior ranging from voter apathy to school absenteeism. Experiments, they argue, are part of any leader's toolkit. With this book, readers can become part of “the experimental revolution.”

Max H. Bazerman, Michael Luca (Author), Timothy Andrés Pabon (Narrator)

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HBR's 10 Must Reads on Negotiation

Learn to be a better negotiator-and achieve the outcomes you want. We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you avoid common mistakes, find hidden opportunities, and win the best deals possible. This book will inspire you to: control the negotiation before you enter the room; persuade others to do what you want-for their own reasons; manage emotions on both sides of the table; understand the rules of negotiating across cultures; set the stage for a healthy relationship long after the ink has dried; and identify what you can live with and when to walk away.

Daniel Kahneman, Deepak Malhotra, Erin Meyer, Harvard Business Review, Max H. Bazerman (Author), Brian Holden, Chloe Cannon (Narrator)

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