The Psychology of Decision Making

Leadership is a choice. That choice and the many others that you make determine your value to your organization, and determine the quality of your life. But decision making is hard because the world is full of uncertainty, conflict, complexity, and ignorance. This course will focus on how people make decisions, revealing some systematic errors and useful decision-making strategies. We will review topics in judgment and decision making, a field related to behavioral economics, that covers academic and applied topics and draws from disciplines including cognitive science, psychology, statistics, economics, and philosophy. The focus will be on using insights from the field to find ways to improve individual, professional, and societal decision making.