Most teams don’t fail because people are “bad collaborators.” They fail because incentives and competing identities sort them into silos.
My new @harvard_business_review article explains how to create successful teams in a special issue on "How to Collaborate Better"
Along with @laurakriska_author we provide 4 Research-Backed Ways to Help Your Team Collaborate Better. We explain how high-performing teams:
1) focus on a superordinate goal,
2) use inclusive language,
3) allocate resources effective, and
4) build psychological safety for constructive criticism.
Read the full article here: /2024/11/4-research-backed-ways-to-help-your-team-collaborate-better
You can read more on my substack: /p/four-things-successful-teams-do-differently?utm_source=publication-search
I was at UChicago this week for a conference on one the central challenges of our time: how AI and social media are reshaping public discourse, political polarization, misinformation, and democratic governance.
We discussed how algorithmic amplification can distort attention, reward outrage, erode institutional trust, and transform the information ecosystem faster than our norms and policies can adapt. We also explored what platform accountability, smarter regulation, and stronger democratic institutions might look like.
It was cool to be part of a genuinely multidisciplinary conversation that brought together economics psychology, and policy. These problems are not just technical—they are social, political, and deeply human. And I always seem to learn more these days when I’m surrounded by people from different fields.
To see the full conference: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/events/2026-antitrust
The average American spends roughly 4-5 hours on their phone a day
A recent study had people take a "Digital Detox" and found that their time online decreased from 314 minutes to 161 minutes, and improved their attention, mental health, and feelings of well-being.
We are now running one of the largest social media detoxes to see the impact on over 8000 people around the world.
You can read about the effects of digital detoxes and our global study in The @washingtonpost
/health/2026/04/09/social-media-detox/
Have ever tried a digital detox? If so, what were the effects? I have my entire Introduction to Psychology class try this challenge every year.
There is no good vs. bad AI. The promise and peril are inextricably linked and it is the underlying incentive structures that we have to understand and guide.
These incentives are currently steering us in the wrong direction, creating a nuclear arms race to develop the most powerful model; companies and countries are incentivized to cut corners in AI safety to avoid losing the race.
Last week, we hosted a panel discussion and screened "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist" to discuss the impact of AI on society, but also how our society can--and should--impact the development of AI.
The big take home is that we need to take collective action to change the incentive structure before it's too late. You can read our summary of the entire event here at our newsletter: /p/reflections-on-the-ai-doc-or-how
I also urge you to check out the movie since it is now in theaters. People at our event were buzzing and I hope it a broader societal conversation about the role of AI in our lives.
I was interviewed on NPR's Hidden Brain about the power of social identity
One of the central insights from our discussion: We often think of beliefs and decisions as individual choices. But in many cases, they are shaped by our social identities.
When people join groups, they don’t just coordinate behavior—they begin to see the world through a shared lens.
This has profound implications for:
-leadership & conformity
-organizational culture
-intergroup polarization
-collective action
It also helps explain why changing minds can be so difficult: you’re often engaging with identity, not just information.
If you’re interested, you can listen to the full episode here: /podcast/group-think/
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Another year around the sun 🌞 thanks to everyone who made my birthday awesome today and all the people in my life who make each and every day every day better than the last.
Annie woke up at 5:30am to put out my birthday gift, Tessa and I got a latte from our favorite bakery first thing this morning and then she surprised me with a delicious chocolate cake during the class we teach together, and the kids made a homemade card that nearly me cry. What a perfect day.
The older I get, the more I appreciate all the little things. I can’t tell you how much time I spend each day just feeling happy, grateful, and lucky 🍀 for all the amazing people in my life. That’s sappy and kind of lame, but also completely true.
One of my favorite parts of the job is work dinners. I’ve enjoyed these since my first month of grad school—I volunteered to take almost every guest speaker to lunch.
A lot of people skip out on this opportunity, but this job is a hell of a lot more fun if you enjoy hanging out with your colleagues outside of work. And the convos are always more interesting once people have a couple of drinks.🍷
Last week I went to a really cool talk on moral psychology and the law by Avani Sood (she’s going to have an amazing book on this topic coming out soon) and then we got dinner with Tessa and my newest colleague Michael Muthukrishna. I hope 🤞 we have many more.
We will be hosting an exclusive pre-release screening of the "THE AI DOC: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist"
The event is New York University on Tuesday, March 24 at 6:30pm followed by a panel discussion
The details are in the post below along with a link to attend the event:
/publish/post/191319212
If you cannot join us, I encourage you to watch it at your theater on March 27th. Here is the trailer for a sneak preview: /watch?v=xkPbV3IRe4Y (it also has excellent reviews thus far).
I love when it snows ❄️ in NYC because people celebrate in such weird ways. The ladies behind me decided to build this giant snowman ⛄️ in front of an Italian restaurant during the blizzard and then they brought out their own bottle of red wine 🍷 and drank it from fancy wine glasses at an empty table in front of the building while everything was closed.
Entrenched social conflict fosters cognitive distortions which, like those in clinical settings, lead to cycles of counterproductive behavior that feed back into distorted thinking.
A new paper uses insights from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to fix cognitive distortions that fuel intergroup conflict, like overgeneralization, black-and-white thinking, catastrophizing, and magnifying the negative.
/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(25)00153-6?dgcid=raven_jbs_etoc_email
My New Year’s resolution in 2026: spend less time staring at my screen and more time exploring the world around me.
I kicked it off with a swim in a cenote and a tour of Xichen Itza—one of the 7 modern wonders of the world.
I’d love to hear suggestions for other cool places to visit out in the wild (especially ones that three teenagers would enjoy).
