From classic to contemporary times, good leadership has always depended on the ability to make wise judgments and effective decisions. Whom should our organization hire? Should we choose the gamble or the sure thing? How should we structure accountability systems? What role do emotions and intuition play in decision-making, and how can we leverage them without falling prey to bias? Will stress improve performance? A burgeoning field, drawing primarily from psychological science, provides frameworks and findings for answering these questions. By gaining an understanding of fundamental mind-brain-behavior relationships in judgment and decision-making (JDM), you will become better able to design decision environments that make everyone smarter - i.e., less susceptible to common errors and biases and more likely to make optimal choices. Taking this course will not, however, tell you what to choose. Instead, it will give you frameworks that reveal how to choose and how to structure optimal decision environments. Throughout the course, the overarching goals are to: (1) Learn about the science of judgment and decision-making, its major theories, results, and debates. (2) Become a critical consumer of research findings, learning methodological standards for evaluating the soundness of empirical studies. (3) Develop the ability to effectively write and speak about JDM-relevant theories, results, and debates. (4) Acquire practical skills for improving your own judgments and decisions. (5) Acquire insights into when and how AI can best augment (versus undermine) human judgment and decision-making. (6) Apply course material in order to improve judgment and decision-making processes in the real world.
There are no specific prerequisites for this course. However, prior courses in psychology, behavioral economics (including MLD-304*), and statistics may be helpful.
Cross registrants welcome.
For HKS students, the course qualifies for the HKS Data and Research Methods track as well as the Certificate in Management, Leadership, and Decision Science.
No auditors are permitted, unfortunately.
* Whereas MLD-304 emphasizes designing and developing welfare-enhancing interventions with public impact, MLD-308 takes a complementary approach. MLD-308 dives deeply into the psychological foundations of judgment and decision-making, emphasizing implications for leadership and organizational management. While some overlap is intentionally included, each course (MLD-304 and MLD-308) also covers a set of novel topics not covered in the other. Thus, students may take them in sequence although it is not necessary to take 304 before taking 308.
